Warring States football, Indonesia as the "final" preparation

The reporter reported coldly After beating Bahrain at home, the Indonesian team is confident of beating the national football team at the Soekarno Stadium in June. The home atmosphere is one of the trump cards for the Indonesian team to win. The match against Bahrain was Indonesia's second-highest home stadium match in the round of 18 with 69,600, behind only the home game against Australia last September (70,600). However, the Indonesian media believe that the number of spectators at the Sukarno Stadium will exceed 70,000 again for the match against the national football team in June, and it is expected to break the record for the number of spectators after the renovation of the stadium.

In addition to the frenetic home atmosphere, the Indonesian Football Association also hopes to naturalize at least two new international players to continue to improve the strength of the Indonesian team. The president of the Indonesian Football Association, Tohir, has made a bold statement: In the two matches against China and Japan in June, the Indonesian team will have to score at least three points. The home match against the national football team was regarded by the Indonesian media and fans as a "decisive battle" to enter the play-offs. To this end, the Indonesian Football Association will be fully prepared.

The Indonesian team has a large number of naturalized players, and most of the players in the previous round of 18 matches can only start training on Mondays of the four international breaks, and there are only two more complete opportunities for the whole team to practice together. Coupled with the constant arrival of new naturalized players, as well as injuries and suspensions, the team is always in a state of running-in. In the second game of the international break, players were generally tired from the exhaustion of the journey and back-to-back games. However, this situation will be completely changed in June.

Indonesia's home game against the national football team is on June 5, when the European league in which most of Indonesia's naturalized internationals play has ended. The first is the second division (18 April), followed by the Championship (3 May), Serie B (9 May), the Eredivisie (18 May), the first division play-offs (24 May), the Premier League, Serie A and the Danish Super League (all ending on 25 May) the latest. In the Asian League, the Malay Cup (April 26), the Thai Super League (April 27), and the Australian Super League (May 2) all ended early, the Indonesian Super League (May 24) ended late, and the latest was the J1 League (May 31). In this case, the Indonesian team can allow some European internationals to return to Indonesia for training at least nine days in advance, so that the players can get enough rest and have more time to practice together.

At present, the naturalized players who have basically confirmed the early return of the Indonesian team include defender captain Ezes (Venice, Serie A), Amat (Johor DT, Malaysian Super League), Verdonk (Nijmegen, Eredivisie), Patiama (Uben, Bi B), Habner (Wolves, Premier League); Midfielders Zhou Yaan (Swansea City, Championship), Perupesi (Lomer, B); Forwards Stryck (Brisbane Roar, AFL), Romeni (Oxford United, Championship) and Olamangu (Dendel, Liga).

In addition, the regular season of the Eredivisie players right-back Dean James (Eagles Ahead), defender Jenner (Utrecht), Haye (Almöller City) and winger Reinders Jr. (Zwolle) ended the regular season on 18 May, but their teams are in possibility of participating in European competitions or relegation play-offs, and they will not be able to return until 25 May at the latest, as well as to make it possible to train early. More troublesome are goalkeeper Odeiro and right-back Dicks, who will not be back until the final on May 29 if Copenhagen reach the Denmark Cup final. Goalkeeper Odero, who will start against the national football team in June, may not return to the team until June 1 at the latest because Palermo will participate in the Serie B promotion play-offs, and the run-in time with the team may be very short.

Most of the Indonesian team's international players will basically be able to participate in the training camp on May 26. However, the main goalkeeper Pis and right winger Ferdinand will be suspended and miss the game against the national football team. Indonesian Football Association President Tohir has said that the goal of the Indonesian team against China and Japan in June is to get at least three points and try to qualify for the play-offs. However, even if Indonesia beat the national football team at home, it may still theoretically not be able to guarantee qualification to the play-offs. Therefore, Indonesia will also need to try to get points against Japan away.

Although the Indonesian team in March already had 18 naturalized players in the 23-man roster, the president of the Indonesian Football Association, Tohir, did not stop the process of continuing to naturalize players. After last year's Asian Cup, Indonesia had new naturalised players join every international break, and this time was no exception. In March, 20-year-old right winger Jonathans, a 20-year-old right winger from Utrele, was transferred to the first team after the New Year, after which he scored 11 goals and provided four assists in 19 games in the Eredivisie this season. In fact, Jonatans had already been targeted by the Indonesian Football Federation for naturalization a year ago.

Jonatans' father was already in Jakarta preparing the ground for Jonathans' naturalization. He met with Hamadan, a strategic adviser to Indonesia's Ministry of Youth and Sports, who was a special envoy of the Indonesian Football Federation and was responsible for finding and lobbying for naturalized players. Thohir denied that the naturalization of Jonatans was being operated, stressing that Jonathans' naturalization had not yet entered the process. However, with plenty of time to go until June, the Indonesian Football Association can look for more targets to focus on the naturalization process.

Indonesia's latest naturalised player is PSV Eindhoven centre-back Flamengo, a 22-year-old who is a staple of the Eredivisie giants' defence and is worth a whopping €16 million. He has scored in Champions League games against Girona, Red Star Belgrade and Juventus this season. After Indonesia's defeat to Bahrain, he posted a photo of former Utrel teammate Romeni celebrating a goal on social media. Flamenco's father is of indigenous descent from the Indonesian island of Java, so flamenco is eligible for naturalization, but he has not yet expressed a strong desire to naturalize.

The Indonesian Football Federation had previously actively tried to naturalise Aston Villa's Dutch defender Maatsen, who had already played for the Netherlands in the UEFA Nations League quarter-finals in March and was disqualified. The Indonesian Football Association's future naturalization targets also include centre-backs Pascal Stryk (Leeds United, Championship), St. Jacob (Willem II, Eredivisie), left-back Ostwald (Fenerbahce, Turkish Super League), Klein (Sparta Rotterdam, Eredivisie), right-back Güell (Zwolle, Eredivisie) and defender Ledwald (Antwerp, Belgian). Among them, Pascal Stryk and Ostwald are both worth more than 14 million euros, ranking high in the Indonesian Football Association's naturalization target.

Not surprisingly, the Indonesian Football Association will have to naturalize at least two new internationals to give Indonesia a stronger strength in the play-off qualification match against the national football team in June to ensure a home victory. The newly naturalized international players are still concentrated in the defensive line and winger positions that need to form a "double insurance", completing the final piece of the puzzle of the Indonesian team's fully naturalized squad. Indonesia's naturalisation of more players is not just to beat the national football team to qualify for the play-offs, they also have greater ambitions.