Dutch expert: Naturalizing players does not help Indonesian football

On ESPN’s Voetbalpraat, Indonesia’s 5-1 loss to Australia in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers on March 20 became the topic of discussion. Coach Patrick Kluivert fielded a squad with 10/11 naturalized players (born in Europe, of Indonesian descent). Only Marselino Ferdinan is a native.

While pundits Kees Kwakman and Kenneth Perez analysed the individual mistakes of the Indonesian players, Schildkamp ignored it: "I was surprised that people immediately focused on the content of the match. What was going on there was a joke, right?".

The Indonesian team used a squad with 10 naturalized players in the 1-5 loss to Australia.

Schildkamp continued: "In recent years, Indonesia has granted citizenship to more than 20 players in the hope of qualifying for the World Cup. In the past, when Beerschot had 11 Ivorian players, everyone was talking about it. Qatar naturalized many Brazilian players, which also caused a lot of controversy. But now, we think it's great, just because they are players who played in the Eredivisie (the Dutch national championship)."

The presenter commented that this is a general trend and that fans in the Netherlands and Indonesia like it. However, expert Schildkamp said that this strategy is only supported when the Indonesian team has good results.

“This approach does not help football in this country. No matter how you look at it, it is clearly an opportunistic approach. If, after losing 1-5 to Australia, the Indonesian team loses 0-1 to Bahrain next week, this whole ‘circus’ will be dismantled immediately,” he commented.

The Indonesian national team has been pushing the "Dutchification" strategy in the past 3 years, when billionaire Erick Thohir became the president of the country's football federation. The squad often has about 9-10 naturalized players (with or without Indonesian origin) on the field, helping to strongly upgrade the team of the archipelago.

Coach Shin Tae-yong helped Indonesia reach the 2023 Asian Cup round of 16, passed the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia and still have a chance to compete for a place in the final round. In addition, the Korean coach led the U23 Indonesia team to the play-off match for a ticket to the Olympics. However, he was still fired due to poor communication with the European players. The Indonesian Football Federation appointed former Dutch player Patrick Kluivert as his replacement.

Mr. Ngoc

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/chuyen-gia-ha-lan-nhap-tich-cau-thu-khong-giup-bong-da-indonesia-ar933226.html