Australia defender Alessandro Circati calls for bravery against Indonesia after Bahrain bust

MELBOURNE – Australia defender Alessandro Circati has called for the Socceroos to be brave in attack in their World Cup qualifier against Indonesia on Sept 10 to get their campaign back on track after a shocking defeat by Bahrain.

The 1-0 loss to the 80th-ranked Gulf nation on the Gold Coast on Sept 5 triggered familiar complaints in Australian media about the Socceroos’ inability to break down stubborn defences from lower-ranked teams.

Australia, ranked 24th in the world, can ill afford another slip-up in Jakarta if they hope to qualify directly for the 2026 Finals co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The Socceroos have made it to the last five World Cups since 2006 in Germany.

Circati, who plays for Italian Serie A club Parma, said there was no point dwelling on the Bahrain setback but hoped his teammates would go on the front foot against world No. 133 Indonesia.

“I’d like to think in this game we can be a bit more creative, a bit more brave offensively,” he said.

“We do have creative players, so we’re able to do that.

“We’ve just got to flick the switch to give them the confidence to take that half-risk, take that risk, to take a player on, take two players on, to possibly get an opportunity on goal.

“Then when we play against the big teams, Japan and Saudi, we’ll go out there to beat them.”

Indonesia held world No. 56 Saudi Arabia to a surprise 1-1 draw in their opening match of the third phase of Asian qualifying in Jeddah and will be hoping for better against Australia in front of a sell-out crowd at the 78,000-capacity Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.

Indonesia’s South Korean coach Shin Tae-yong has called on the home fans to be their “12th man”.

“We will give our best against Australia. We will face Australia at GBK, so to all the fans, you can come... give the best support as you can, that will be a strength for me, for the players,” he said.

Australia beat Indonesia 4-0 in a last-16 clash at the Asian Cup in Qatar in January.

Following Bahrain, Circati said the Socceroos might expect the Indonesians to play cautiously and look to sneak goals on the break.

“They’ve got some quick players that try to hit us on the counter-attack and be dangerous, going forward, catching us maybe not ready,” said the 20-year-old.

“But we’ll make sure that doesn’t happen tomorrow night.

“We’ve got to try finding spaces, try to drag them out and move them maybe into areas where they’re not comfortable.”

Not since their debut in 1938 have Indonesia, then known as the Dutch East Indies, appeared at a World Cup. But with the Finals growing to 48 teams in 2026, efforts to return have quickly gathered momentum.

Central to that has been Erick Thohir, a former owner of Italy’s Inter Milan who took over as the football federation president in early 2023 and fast-tracked plans to tap extensively into the diaspora.

Just two of the players who started the match in Jeddah were born in Indonesia – Rizky Ridho and Witan Sulaeman.

Eight of the other starters were born in the Netherlands, with the other from Belgium.

Ex-Indonesia coach Simon McMenemy, who also formerly helmed another team who relied heavily on diaspora players, the Philippines, backed this approach.

He was quoted by Deutsche Welle as saying: “Foreign players can help raise standards. The Indonesian domestic league is not yet strong enough to go up against the best in Asia, but there is a chance when using players from bigger and better leagues.

“If, as a national team coach, you rely only on the local league, then it is hard to change anything as the players are at their clubs.

“But players from outside can help a coach bring change, and locals can learn from them, so it benefits everyone.” REUTERS, AFP