" The naturalized players of the Indonesian team are only of the second-class quality in Asia. The Chinese team's ability is not inferior to theirs, even equal or better ," Chinese media quoted midfielder Xie Wenneng.
The fourth match of Group C, Round 3 of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia saw a clash between China and Indonesia. Coach Shin Tae-yong and his team suffered a bitter defeat early in the first half. In the 21st minute, from a not-so-dangerous free kick in the middle of the field, a Chinese defender tried to save the ball, Behram Abduweli rushed in and finished close to the goal to open the score for the East Asian representative.
Thom Haye is the shining star of the Indonesian team.
In the 44th minute, Gao Zhunyi won the ball and made a skillful trivela pass, Zhang Yuning escaped and finished with an excellent one-touch goal, doubling the gap for the Chinese team. Efforts in the second half helped Indonesia get the only equalizer thanks to Thom Haye.
Not all naturalized Indonesian players are at the top level, but a few names can definitely approach the top level of Asia. Thom Haye - played for many years for Heerenveen, Jay Idzes (Venezia, Serie A Italy), Mees Hilgers (Twente - Netherlands). The rest of the group were trained and played for many years for the Dutch youth teams.
However, the Indonesian team has not been able to bring joy to fans. They drew 3 and lost 1 in the first 4 matches. The naturalized players performed well individually but the collective spirit is a big problem.
Wei Shihao - star of the Chinese team commented: " I don't think the Indonesian team is really stronger than the Chinese team. This team has some naturalized players playing abroad, but the level of cohesion is definitely not as good as ours. Modern football emphasizes team play ."
However, the Indonesian team is clearly much stronger with naturalized players. Currently, coach Shin Tae-yong has 13-15 quality naturalized players and can use 9 of them as starters.
Source: https://vtcnews.vn/doi-tuyen-indonesia-bi-che-nhap-tich-cau-thu-chat-luong-kem-ar902405.html
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