Bahrain coach mocks Indonesian fans about naturalizing players

Every match, the Indonesian team debuts a naturalized player.

"I often watch the matches of the Indonesian team. Every time I watch, I see 2 or 3 new players, but they are from the Netherlands or England, no one from Indonesia. You have millions of people, but the team is mostly players from the Netherlands. But there is nothing wrong, we respect the Indonesian team. We came here to win," coach Dragan Talajic said in a press conference before the match.

Coach Dragan Talajic shocked Indonesian fans when he mocked the naturalization of players.

Photo: Reuters

Indonesian press considered this a very harsh provocation by coach Dragan Talajic before the decisive match between the two teams in the 8th round of Group C, round 3 of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia.

Both teams currently have 6 points and a goal difference of -7, Indonesia is temporarily ranked above Bahrain in 4th place thanks to a better goal difference (7 compared to 5). The team that wins will light up the opportunity to win 3rd or 4th place to keep hope in the 4th qualifying round. While losing, it will be considered as falling into the situation of being eliminated early in the bottom 2 positions of the table.

According to CNN Indonesia , coach Dragan Talajic's criticism is somewhat true to the current situation of the Indonesian team. Therefore, the reaction of the fans has also become somewhat weak.

Some say: "We only have 300 million people, but look at China and India. They have more than 2 billion people, but they still naturalize players, even the Italian team still naturalizes."

"If among the 300 million Indonesians, there were many people with skills like Rizky Ridho or Marselino Ferdinan, there would be no problem," another netizen expressed. Rizky Ridho and Marselino Ferdinan are the two most prominent native Indonesian players in the current national team of the archipelago, which has a majority of naturalized players.

"It seems like the Bahrain coach is just trying to divert the mental pressure to face Indonesian fans in the upcoming match," another Indonesian netizen added.

Bahrain team just lost 0-2 to Japan before meeting Indonesia

Photo: Reuters

The story of the "Dutchification" of the Indonesian national team, from the players to the majority of the coaching staff, including coach Kluivert and the technical director, also Dutch, Mr. Jordi Cruyff, has caused much debate recently. Notably, despite having "Dutchified" nearly 80% of the team, the archipelago nation still lost heavily to the Australian team with a score of 1-5.

Many Indonesian fans have expressed doubts about the national team's naturalization policy. Meanwhile, player Marselino Ferdinan himself confirmed: "The current national team is having difficulty getting along with each other." Indonesian press predicted that there was a division within the national team, due to the overwhelming number of naturalized players.

The match between Indonesia and Bahrain on March 25 at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium is almost the final match for the remaining small chance of the archipelago team in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Above all, it is also the final match for the Indonesian Football Federation's policy of naturalizing players, whether it is really right or not for its ambition to participate in the World Cup.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/bi-hlv-doi-bahrain-mia-mai-chuyen-nhap-tich-cau-thu-cdv-indonesia-nghen-loi-185250325084047675.htm