Indonesia ‘closer to dream’ of World Cup after beating the Philippines
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Indonesia’s Thom Haye (left) celebrates with teammates after scoring in the 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over the Philippines.
PHOTO: AFP
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JAKARTA – Indonesian fans and leaders hailed their football team after they booked a place in the third round of the World Cup qualifiers for the first time, following their 2-0 win over the Philippines on June 11.
The Indonesian team have been represented only once at a World Cup, reaching the last 16 in 1938, when the country was still under colonial rule and known as the Dutch East Indies.
“Whan an incredible win! With this feat, we are getting closer to our dream to play at the World Cup,” President Joko Widodo wrote on Instagram after the victory in Jakarta, where he was in attendance.
“Keep fighting Garuda National Team!”
Indonesia joined Iraq in advancing out of Group F, with Thom Haye and Rizky Ridho the heroic scorers in front of a raucous crowd of 64,000.
“It was a very important match. We knew what we had to do. I’m very happy I could contribute to that,” said Haye, a 29-year-old midfielder who plays in the Dutch top flight for Heerenveen, after scoring his first international goal. “I think we deserved the win. In the next round, we want to show who we are. It doesn’t stop here.”
Indonesia are the only team from South-east Asia with a chance of World Cup qualification – Singapore finished bottom of Group C, behind South Korea, China and Thailand. The Chinese and the Thais finished with the same number of points and same goal difference, but China went through with a superior head-to-head record. Other teams like Vietnam and Malaysia also failed to advance.
Indonesian coach Shin Tae-yong has called on a policy of using naturalised players – footballers with Indonesian heritage like Haye who was born in the Netherlands – to boost the team’s success.
It has seen their ranking rise eight places to 134th in the world, the biggest jump in the last update in April.
“Because of the players’ hard work, we managed to create a new history and we finally got through to the third round of the World Cup qualification,” Shin said.
Fans took to social media to celebrate the win but also to express hope for a berth in the 2026 tournament that will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
“Thank God, we are still carrying on with our dream of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, the struggle is not over, keep the spirit of Garuda!” wrote one X user.
The third round will see 18 teams – including top Asian seeds Japan, South Korea and Iran – vie for six automatic World Cup spots across three groups, while two more spots will be up for grabs in the fourth round. AFP
