Losing Against Australia, Opportunities For The Indonesian National Team To Stay Open

The Indonesian national team must remain supported despite losing against Australia (doc. PSSI).

JAKARTA football observer Rizki Arilya saw the defeat against the Australian National Team (Timnas) did not at all close the opportunity for the Indonesian national team to secure tickets to the 2026 World Cup.

Indonesia came home without points after being beaten with a landslide score of 1-5 in the seventh match of Group C of the Third Round of the 2026 World Cup Qualification in the Asian Zone at the Sydney Football Stadium, on Thursday, March 20, 2025.

"Indeed, we lost in Sydney, but the chances have not been closed. There are still three remaining matches that will decide. The most important thing is the match against Bahrain which is only a matter of days," said Rizki.

The results obtained by Indonesia in this latest match caused various boisterous reactions on social media. Not a few pointed at Patrick Kluiver and PSSI as well as bringing up the dismissal of Shin Tae-yong.

Rizki regretted the suffering experienced in Sydney immediately turned dreams into insults. According to him, the narrative no longer discusses Indonesia's chances of going to the 2026 World Cup but targets PSSI.

"Many are emotional blind. Emotions are not only born after the match, but appear before. Emotions that are not only sparked by annoyance, but rather hope," said Rizki.

In addition, Rizki also admitted that he was confused by many people who targeted to win in an away match to Sydney. He emphasized that the calculations were rather difficult to accept because Socceroos had never failed to win World Cup tickets since joining the AFC.

"Netherlands only have a record draw against Australia. Of the four matches, the Netherlands won and lost once and drew twice against Socceroos."

"So, I feel obliged to win Indonesia against Australia is actually unreasonable. I myself included the away match in Sydney and Japan as a calculated loss match for Indonesia," he said.

Miraculously the sense of mandatory victory is not only desired by supporters, Kluivers have also seemed to express that feeling for 90 minutes of the match with attacking tactics since the initial plug.

However, this may need to be a critical note for Kluiver. The reason is, the total attacking style is not in line with the conditions of the Indonesian national team or the opponent.

Rizki assessed that the high pressure strategy used by the Dutch coach was actually Australian soft food. It is proven that two goals were born through counter attack, while the other three were created via set pieces.

"It was these three Australian goals that started from a corner that should be watched carefully because in high level football, details really determine everything."

"Cluivers must fix the weakness of Indonesia's defense coordination during corner kicks," he said.

In the match against Australia there was an anomaly. Garuda's possession reached 61 percent. This proves that in terms of playing Indonesia has potential, but mistakes about detail have proven to be able to bring everything down.

Furthermore, Rizki said that no matter what, the match against Australia has passed. He emphasized that a champion of defeat is a lesson. There is no defeat dictionary to be faced with insults.

"As John C. Maxwell said, sometimes we win, but sometimes we learn (Sometimes we win, sometimes we have to learn)."

"So, it was not the result of his defeat, but the lesson of defeat was the most valuable."

"No champion has ever lost. The team that qualified for the World Cup is not a team that never falls, but a team that can rise after falling!" he said.

He also admitted that Indonesian football's dream has never been as high as it is today that many are still not used to balancing the gestures between dreams, hopes, emotions and reality.

"When winning, they are praised to the heights of space. When they lose they are insulted in such a way. This is what often happens in our football since the past," he said.

Rizki hopes that the defeat in Australia will not be prolonged. The reason is, this could backfire for the Garuda Squad which will soon face Bahraian.

"As part of the game, supporters must also have a paradigm that as long as the long whistle doesn't sound it's all over yet. Like the title of the song Lenny Kravitz, It Ain't Over Until It's Over."

"Let's support the Garuda squad until the last match of Group C. We will reply to the disappointing results in Australia with a victory over Bahrain at GBK #Still SupportGaruda," he said.