Re: FIFA World Cup 2026 :Canada/Mexico/United States: Discussion Thread
What is different is that the current Indonesian squad is very different from when Bahrain beat Indonesia with a very convincing score at that time. Now Indonesia is strengthened by many players who play in several prestigious leagues in the world, yes, even though they are part of a team that is not considered strong enough, but of course what we see is experience. Bahrain on paper is no better than Saudi Arabia and Australia and when facing both countries Indonesia managed to hold a draw, that will be a good capital and of course it will increase the confidence of the players. In this group, Indonesia is actually the weakest country when viewed from the ranking, but for now the ranking is just a number for Indonesia seen from the previous 2 matches.
Of course the squad is completely different because in the past was full of Indonesian, while now they're full of Holland. It's no longer Indonesia to be honest, it's Netherlands v2.0. Netherlands is currently at the 7th rank in the world, it's not surprising why Netherlands v2.0 can qualify for World Cup and give a fight against higher rank countries.Australia should've secure 3 points because they've score one more goal in the injury time, it's surprising China can score one goal.
Furthermore, it is indeed correct that the Indonesian national team currently consists of many diaspora players, most notably hailing from the Netherlands. It tends to give the national team somewhat of the appearance of “Netherlands v2.0” because many of them are people of Indonesian descent born and who have developed their football careers in the Netherlands. A few have even represented the Dutch national team in their youth categories. Nevertheless, as long as they give their best on the pitch and have the intention and hope of making Indonesia proud, that is what matters. What is key is their commitment to make Indonesia proud on the international stage, and that is an initiative I will always support.
And it is commonplace in modern football, where many countries tap into the potential of their diaspora players. Not only Indonesia, but countries in Europe as well often fill the depth of their national teams with players who have a diaspora background, especially from Africa.