JAKARTA - Former assistant coach of the Indonesian national team, Alex Pastoor, shared his experience while being part of the Garuda Squad.
He appeared in Rondo's broadcast on Monday, October 20, 2025, local time. Pastor also said that the failure of the Indonesian national team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup - which was the reason he and the coaching team were fired - was illogical.
For a team like the Indonesian national team - which is under the top 100 FIFA rankings, to be precise now 119 in the world - it is not easy to appear at the biggest football party in the world.
"As far as I know, there are three agreements. First, reaching the World Cup (2026, ed.) is extraordinary, but as the world's 119th ranked team, it is neither easy nor logical," said Pastoor as quoted by Voetbal International.
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Pastor's opinion is based on the strength of the qualifying teams which according to him are difficult to fight against by the Indonesian national team.
"It didn't work, no, it became clear quickly. Actually, both on the pitch and on the coaching staff, we tried to explain to the players what they expected."
"I think we've done that completely. However, it's not enough to beat these caliber countries," said Pastoor.
Pastoor's statement clearly injured Indonesian football lovers, who in other words said that the Indonesian national team was still not worthy of appearing on the World Cup stage.
However, if you look at the teams that have confirmed their place in the 2026 World Cup, they do have a top 100 FIFA ranking.
In fact, in the class of debutants like Tanjung Verde - who made their first history at the World Cup - they are ranked 71th in the world.
Meanwhile, Jordan and Uzbekistan, who also debuted in the World Cup, are ranked 66th and 55th in the world.
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