JAKARTA - The Indonesian national team will face the Philippines as one of the opponents in the second round of Group F 2026. In preparation, The Azkals troops strengthened themselves by recruiting eight naturalized players.
The news that the opponent called many naturalized players in fact reached the ears of the Indonesian national team manager, Sumardji.
The 51-year-old man even openly mentioned that he was also following the development of the opposing team.
Even so, Sumardji emphasized that the number of naturalized players in the opposing team would not make the Garuda Squad afraid.
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The man who is also the head of the National Team Agency (BTN) emphasized that the Indonesian national team is also a compact team with the addition of a number of players from Europe.
"I am following the development (The Philippine National Team) from social media, yes. The Philippines has indeed added several naturalized players," Sumardji said in his statement quoted Friday, May 17, 2024.
"However, we must remember that the naturalization of our players who are called has been chemistry for a long time."
"So, whatever the situation, we (Indonesian National Team) will definitely be able to deal with the situation well," he said again.
Previously, it was known that the Philippines coach, Tom Saintfiet, was very serious in preparing the team for the remaining two matches of the second round of the 2026 Asian Zone World Cup Qualifiers.
The Philippines has been scheduled against Vietnam (June 6, 2024) and Indonesia (June 11, 2024).
As preparation, Tom Saintfiet is looking for descendants who can be naturalized for the Philippines.
As a result, there are eight players who are projected, namely Raphael Obermair (Paderborn), Dylan Demuneck (Zulte Waregem), Johannes Selven (Odense BK), Anthony Markanich (St. Louis City), Joseph Baccat, Zico Bailey (New Mexico United), Adrian Ugelvik (Levanger FK), and Bjorn Martin Christensen (Aalesunds FK).
The coach's goal was not kidding because the players were the names competing at the second level of the German League, the Belgian League, the United States MLS, to the Danish League.
Regarding the meeting later, the Philippines and the Indonesian national team are not new duels. These two countries have often faced ASEAN level competitions.
In fact, several Filipino players have also played in Indonesia, such as Kensiro Daniels, OJ Porteria, Mike Ott, Christian Rontini, Simen Lingbo, Kevin Mendoza, and Daisuke Sato who had defended Persib Bandung.
Seeing how the rivalry between the two teams is, Sumardji is optimistic that the Indonesian national team can conquer the Philippines.
Meanwhile, the Red-White Team only needed one more win to secure a ticket to the third round of the 2026 World Cup as well as get a ticket to the 2027 Asian Cup.
"Yes, it (lolos Piala Asia 2027) must be guaranteed," he said.
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