JAKARTA - The 2026 FIFA Series is an event for John Herdman to lead the Indonesian National Team for the first time in an official international match.
After determining the 24 players who were brought to face the FIFA Matchday March 2026, Herdman got a test against Saint Kitts and Nevis.
The first challenge for the English coach to arrange the players was passed. The Indonesian national team managed to win convincingly with a score of 4-0 to advance to the final of the 2026 FIFA Series.
Next, they will meet the strong opponent from Europe, Bulgaria, in the final. Herdman admitted that his team could already carry out his instructions, but there were aspects that still needed to be improved.
The sectors that Herdman refers to are collectivity and connectivity. If these two aspects do not go well, Bulgaria has the ability to punish.
"It's about tactical cohesion. I feel that in the first 15 minutes (against Saint Kitts and Nevis), for a certain period, I felt we got too excited."
"So, people do their own thing for some periods. If we do that against Bulgaria, we will die in the first 10 minutes."
"They will kill us. So the players, they will know, we have to commit to the tactical blueprint against a team like Bulgaria from the first minute."
"We can't wait 10, 15 minutes, to unite and connect. So it's important. In the first 15 minutes we have to start stronger with a better mentality. Otherwise, we will be punished," said the former Canadian national team coach.
The good news is, Herdman found a solution to the absence of a number of players. As is known, the Indonesian National Team is not strengthened by a number of subscription players.
The coach admitted that the absence of these players caused his team's creativity to decrease slightly, but it was covered by the advantages in other sectors.
"Back to the composition of the players, I think we lost a number of players, I think of Marselino (Ferdinan), Miliano (Jonathan), we lost a little creativity."
"Kevin Diks played in a high and wide role, an incredible job, showing his professionalism tonight."
"So, I'm happy, happy with the composition, but there are more players coming and competing. So, the group here, I have to win that uniform (position in the team) in every game."
"Hopefully they can keep the uniform and make other players who are usually the main players, get the right to come back (the Indonesian national team squad)," said the 50-year-old coach.
The names that did not make the squad this time include Marselino Ferdinan, Miliano Jonathans, Egi Maulana Vikri, Rafael Struick, Thom Haye, Shayne Pattynama, Asnawi Mangkualam Bahar, Mees Hilgers, Marc Klok, Pratama Arhan, Ricky Kambuaya, and Witan Sulaeman for a number of reasons, ranging from injuries to FIFA sanctions.
Apart from that, the Indonesia vs Bulgaria national team match will take place at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium on Monday, March 30, 2026.
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