January 7 – Indonesia have dismissed Shin Tae-yong as manager, with Dutchman Patrick Kluivert reportedly waiting in the wings to take over.
“This decision was made based on long and mature considerations and evaluations carried out by the All Indonesia Football Association and the National Team Agency as a whole regarding the Team’s performance and the long-term goals that the Indonesian National Football Team wants to achieve,” said a Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) statement.
The dismissal comes as no surprise and reflects Indonesia’s growing ambition. Even so, Tae-yong built an excellent track record after taking over in 2020.
Last year, he led Indonesia to the Asian Cup for the first time since 2004 and the team progressed to the last 16, a first as well. Then, Indonesia advanced to the third round of World Cup qualifiers. But with the squad increasingly being made up of European-based players, Tae-yong, who doesn’t master English, faced new challenges.
Meanwhile, Dutch media report that the PSSI have lined up Kluivert as Tae-yong’s successor. The former FC Barcelona and Netherlands striker has previously held managerial roles at Curaçao, Cameroon, Ajax, FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain. He has been out of a job since his dismissal at Adana Demirspor in Turkey in December 2023.
“We need a leader who communicates with the players and better implements the strategies and programs of our national team,” said PSSI president Erick Thohir.
“We have spoken to all the candidates in Europe in the last few days and they all agreed with the objective of qualifying for the World Cup.”
Indonesia are ranked third in their World Cup 2026 qualifying group behind Japan and Australia. In March, they will face the Socceroos. The top two go to North America automatically, third and fourth advance to the next stage of qualifying. The Indonesians last participated in the World Cup in 1938 when they qualified as Dutch East Indies.
The ties with the Netherlands have remained strong and the PSSI have increasingly looked to explore the diaspora to expand Indonesia’s talent pool. Maarten Paes, Kevin Diks, Jay Idzes, Justin Hubner, Calvin Verdonk, Shayne Pattynama, Nathan Tjoe-A-On, Eliano Reijnders, Thom Haye, Ivar Jenner, Ragnar Oratmangoen and Rafael Struick are all players who were born in the Netherlands and feature for the Indonesian national team.
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