Naturalized striker makes history in Indonesia

Romelu Lukaku shines in new shirt.

CNN Indonesia reported that Romeny became the first naturalized player to score two goals in his first two matches for the national team. Previously, Cristian Gonzales and Beto Goncalves had similar achievements, but only in friendly matches. Meanwhile, Romeny impressed when scoring against Australia and Bahrain in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

Sharing after his debut in Indonesia, Romeny said: "My dream is still to participate in the World Cup. It would be great if the Indonesian people could follow the team's journey in this tournament. That is also the goal that the whole team is aiming for."

CNN Indonesia praised Romeny as a suitable piece to help strengthen the national team. "The federation considered Romeny an ideal option to improve performance. He has proven that this decision was correct," the newspaper commented.

Romeny spent the first half of this season playing for Utrecht, a club also playing in the Dutch league. In the January 2025 transfer window, Oxford United, a team playing in the English First Division, signed Romeny on a long-term contract.

Standing at 1.85 m tall and with a modern playing style, Romeny was called up to the Dutch youth teams from U18 to U20. The 2022/23 season was the peak of this striker's career, when he scored 11 goals in the Dutch National Championship for Emmen Club.

The victory over Bahrain helped Indonesia maintain its fourth place in Group C of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers with nine points, one point behind Saudi Arabia, the team above it. This is the position that guarantees a ticket to the play-off round. In the next round, Indonesia will host China at home.

Brawl in Indonesian league After chasing and hitting the referee, Deltras and Persibo Bojonegoro players turned to fight each other in the match at Liga 2 Indonesia on January 11.

Source: https://znews.vn/tien-dao-nhap-tich-di-vao-lich-su-indonesia-post1541457.html