JAKARTA - The Indonesian national team hosted Australia in the second match of Group C of the Third Round of the 2026 World Cup Qualification at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium (SUGBK), Tuesday, September 10, 2024.
The Garuda squad has a good capital after taking a point at Saudi Arabia's headquarters in the inaugural match.
However, the journey and busy schedule made Shin Tae-yong's team exhausted. Moreover, many players who have careers abroad have decided to join the team directly in Saudi Arabia.
Call it Maarten Paes, Jay Idzes, Sandy Walsh, Calvin Verdok, Nathan Tjoe-A-On, Ragnar Oratmangoen, Ivar Jenner, Thom Haye, Rafael Struick, Shayne Pattynama, Marselino Ferdinand, Pratama Arhan, and Asnawi Mangkualam Bahar.
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Just like players in the domestic league, they also have their respective league matches on a busy schedule.
Therefore, they were allowed to join directly in Saudi Arabia after defending their respective clubs, without the need to participate in training in Jakarta.
Not to mention, after meeting Saudi Arabia, all players returned to Jakarta to play home games. No wonder, Shin Tae-yong chose to focus on recovering from fitness ahead of Australia's opponents.
"Actually, the overall player is in good condition. However, I don't lie that they are all tired. Our players have come from Europe, Maarten from America (Brush)."
"After the match was over (against Saudi Arabia), they went straight to the airport to return to Jakarta," said Shin Tae-yong.
However, Shin Tae-yong tried his best way so that the physical condition of the players remained maximal when they hosted Australia.
Judging by the latest condition of his troops, the South Korean coach even floated confidence that he could get points in this home game.
"Overall the players are in good condition, but, yes, they are still tired. For Australia to play at home, we will try our best to get points. We need to be prepared to deal with them," said Shin Tae-yong.
In addition to the training menu to improve fitness, Shin Tae-yong is also trying to insert tactical training to deal with Socceros.
The Indonesian national team on paper is indeed inferior in front of Australia if you look at the meeting records.
However, Australia came to Indonesia with a negative result in the inaugural match of the 2026 World Cup Qualification Third Round. They lost 0-1 against Bahrain at home.
The result shows that the Indonesian national team does not need to be inferior to the big name Socceroos. After all, the Garuda Squad was able to repeat the historical record 43 years ago when it defeated Australia in the First Round of the 1982 World Cup Qualifiers.
The opportunity is wide open. Moreover, the Indonesian national team faced face-to-face in front of its own supporters and the current level is much different.
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