First, lightning, then thunder, and finally a new trainer. Just two days after the aftershocks of Tae-Yong Shin’s dismissal rocked Indonesian Football, the country has found a new national coach. If you’re wondering what’s new with ntv.de, stay with us for a moment longer.
The new head coach is a name you probably know well. Football legend Patrick Kluivert, after his last experience at Turkish club Adana Demirspor and three assignments on the Caribbean island of Curacao, will now take the reins in Asia for the first time at the age of 48. He faces a huge opportunity to lead Indonesia, currently ranked 127th in the FIFA world rankings, to the 2026 World Cup.
In his first match, he will have to travel to Australia, who are just one point above the Oceanian giants. A victory there would bring Indonesia closer to its second World Cup qualification since 1938. At the time, the country was still under Dutch colonial rule. Since its independence in 1945, it has failed to qualify again. The team is mainly composed of players born in the Netherlands who later obtained Indonesian citizenship. Kluivert, with his 79 caps for the Netherlands, lifted the Champions League trophy with Ajax Amsterdam in 1995 and has since polished teams such as FC Barcelona and AC Milan.
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