What is happening to the Indonesian national team?

If before the match with UAE, coach McMenemy confidently told the Indonesian media: "Everything is going well, we are determined to get points right on the UAE field", then after the humiliating 5-0 defeat, he suddenly turned around and blamed Indonesia's domestic league.

Internal unrest

Coach McMenemy insisted that this tournament had weakened the Indonesian team: “The Indonesian players are not at 100% form and fitness. We are at a disadvantage because of the domestic tournament schedule.”

“The team cannot have all the best players, and the players do not have enough rest before the World Cup qualifiers,” added coach McMenemy.

Coach McMenemy said: "Indonesian players are not at 100% form and fitness. We are at a disadvantage because of the domestic tournament schedule." Photo: AFC

Under coach McMenemy, "Garuda" only won 2 out of 6 matches, scoring 11 goals and conceding 15. Indonesia's two wins were against the tiny teams Timor-Leste (3-1) and Vanuatu (6-0).

At this point, Indonesian football does not have many quality players. Indonesian football is sinking deeper and deeper into crisis due to power struggles and inability to find a long-term development path.

Although the country's Football Federation has opened the national team to naturalized players, 38-year-old Brazilian striker Alberto Goncalves Da Costa is too old and no longer sharp enough.

The one-time star of Indonesian football, Stefano Lilipaly (29 years old), only played impressively for Bali United, but when he was called up to the national team, he only played as a reserve and did not make much of an impression. Although attacking midfielder Stefano Lilipaly is currently the most expensive player of the Indonesian national team, valued at 450,000 euros.

At 38 years old, naturalized player Bento still has to lead the attack of the Indonesian national team. Photo: AFC

The attack style is monotonous, the number of attackers is often less than the opponent, so there are not many situations for Indonesia to score goals. Currently, in the Indonesian team, there is no player with sharp individual skills, good at breaking through. Mr. McMenemy has tried many ways but still failed.

Vietnam National Team's Opportunity

Simon Mcmenemy had previously been successful when leading the Philippines with a policy of using naturalized players. However, he is still powerless when leading the current Indonesian team with both youth and search for excellent naturalized players.

The host newspaper Liputan6 commented: "The Vietnamese national team will be the biggest challenge for the Indonesian national team, because they are now the strongest team in Southeast Asia. In the latest FIFA rankings, we are 68 places behind them, with Vietnam ranked 99th and Indonesia ranked 167th."

At this time, the value of the Indonesian team at the bottom of Group G is still valued by transfermarkt at 5.13 million euros, more than 3 times higher than the value of the Vietnamese team (priced at 1.6 million euros), but clearly, the home team does not have any stars that can make us worry.

Vietnam national team completed the mission of winning 3 points at My Dinh against Malaysia. Photo courtesy of Trung Kien

Currently, the 8 second-placed teams all have a better goal difference than Vietnam, with 7/8 teams having scored 3 goals or more. The two direct competitors with Vietnam in Group G have both created a "rain of goals" for Indonesia with a difference in scores. Thailand won 3-0 away, while the UAE just won 5-0 at home.

In 13/14 recent matches, the Vietnamese team scored no more than 2 goals/match. Simply put, Mr. Park always emphasizes solidity in defense to win, we only need the minimum number of goals. But this is the time for us to "destroy" the opponent when the form and mentality of the Indonesian players are not good.