Bahrain coach 'taunts' Indonesia team: Nearly 300 million people but have to use all Dutch players

Coach Dragan Talajic "taunts" the Indonesian team that they need more Dutch players - Photo: BOLA

Indonesia will host Bahrain at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium at 8:45 p.m. today, March 25, in the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia.

Before the match, Bahrain's head coach "taunted" the Southeast Asian representative for continuously having "reinforcements" of European origin despite being the world's most populous country.

According to the latest figures from the United Nations, Indonesia has a population of 285,093,265 people, ranking 4th in the world.

In the press conference before the match, coach Talajic said he paid special attention to Indonesia's naturalization.

Typically in this call-up, the Indonesian team has names such as: Ole Romeny, Emil Audero, Dean James, Joey Pelupessy.

"I have followed and watched many matches of the Indonesian team. Every time they gather, I see 2 or 3 new players. But they are not Indonesian, but from the Netherlands and England, there is absolutely no Indonesian," Mr. Talajic shared.

The Bahrain captain then “taunted” the team of coach Patrick Kluivert. According to him, Indonesia is the most populous country in the world. However, to find players for the national team, they have to “import” them from the Netherlands.

"You have nearly 300 million people, but you need a lot of players from the Netherlands. Okay, we will still try to get the best results," said Mr. Talajic.

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THANH DINH

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/hlv-bahrain-ca-khia-tuyen-indonesia-gan-300-trieu-dan-ma-phai-dung-toan-ha-lan-20250325102829593.htm