JAKARTA - Former Canadian National Team (Timnas) coach John Herdman is said to be a strong candidate for the new coach of the Indonesian National Team chosen by the PSSI.
John Herdman's name is getting stronger as the Indonesian national team needs a coach with high international flight hours, especially in the competition for the World Cup.
Recently, there was news that PSSI had appointed one name out of five coach candidates who had been interviewed. The name narrowed down to John Herdman even though until now PSSI has not announced the final decision.
So the top name, John Herdman has a track record that is considered qualified because of his success in bringing the Canadian National Team to the international level.
Based on Transfermarkt data, Herdman was born in Consett, County Durham, England, on July 19, 1975. He did not have a long career as a professional player and since he was young he chose the coaching path.
Herdman's career journey began in New Zealand when he was around 30 years old. John Herdman was trusted to handle the age group team before being promoted as the coach of the New Zealand Women's National Team in the 2006-2011 period.
For more than five years, Herdman recorded important achievements by bringing New Zealand to the 2007 and 2011 Women's World Cups.
Success in New Zealand then paved the way for John Herdman to anchor in Canada. In 2011, he was appointed as head coach of the Canadian Women's National Team.
Under his leadership, Canada developed into a world power with two Olympic bronze medals in London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016.
Herdman took a big step by switching to handling the Canadian Men's National Team. The decision bore fruit when he led Canada to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, their first appearance after an absence of 36 years.
The record makes Herdman one of the coaches who are able to bring the women's and men's teams from one country to appear at the World Cup.
In the Concacaf region, he is known as the architect of the Canadian football revival that is disciplined and competitive.
After ending his career with the Canadian National Team in 2023, Herdman continued his career at the club level by managing Toronto FC.
However, Herdman only managed Toronto FC until 2024 and since then he has been without a club. The English coach was briefly linked with the Jamaican and Honduran national teams.
However, the Honduran media, Diez, recently said that Herdman prioritized the opportunity to coach the Indonesian National Team.
"The English manager is close to returning to Concacaf after negotiations with Jamaica, following Steve McClaren's resignation."
"The Jamaican Federation considered it for the inter-federation playoff for the 2026 World Cup, but Herdman rejected the offer, prioritizing Indonesia," wrote a report quoted by Diez.
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