Indonesia has announced that Patrick Kluivert, the Netherlands and FC Barcelona’s legend, is their new head coach.
Indonesia’s national team has just announced that Dutch legend Patrick Kluivert is their new head coach. Kluivert replaces the previous coach, Shin Tae-yong, who is South Korean. The 48-year-old is set to lead the dream of the national team qualifying for the World Cup in 2026.
Indonesia are currently sitting third in their qualifying group after playing six matches. Kluivert’s first official mission with the team will be when they play against Australia. The mission of reaching the World Cup isn’t easy for anyone, and Kluivert has a tough task to achieve.
Indonesia’s dreams are now laying with Kluivert and the hope that he will bring in good results. Previously, the Indonesian national team qualified for the World Cup only once. That was during the 1938 edition of the World Cup. Since then, the team has failed of achieving the dream of any national team out there.
This new job isn’t Kluivert’s first attempt at coaching. He was the head coach for Turkish club Adana Demirspor. This was in 2023 and Kluivert led the team for only five months. Kluivert’s CV has convinced his new team that he is, hopefully, the right man for the job.
He also previously led Curacao. Along with adding this new job to his resume, Kluivert assisted Louis van Gaal when he led the Netherlands national team. He also assisted Clarence Seedorf when he was the head coach of Cameroon’s national team.
The hiring of Kluivert has been described by many as shocking. Many Indonesian fans were against the sacking of previous head coach Shin Tae-Yong. Shin, who took charge of the team at the end of 2019, was loved by the fans, especially with the clear impact he had on the national team.
Shin managed to move Indonesia from being 173rd in the FIFA world rankings to being number 127th. He also led them to their first AFC Asian Cup appearance in 17 years. Under Shin’s guidance, the national team won a first Southeast Asian Games gold medal in over three decades.
It is reported that the reason behind Shin’s sacking was disagreements between him and important decisions makers in PSSI (Football Association of Indonesia). This is why Kluivert hiring might not be welcomed by everyone.
The question right now is whether Kluivert would prove himself useful or not. His contract is a two-year contract through 2027 with an option for extension. In their group, the qualifying system entails that two countries reach the World Cup automatically. Then another two teams will go into another qualifying round.
Of course, Kluivert and Indonesian fans will be hoping to be one of the two teams qualifying automatically for the World Cup. It is, however, not an easy task, especially with the team being number 127th in FIFA rankings. If Kluivert managed to make this dream become a reality, he would be a legend of another kind then.
Read More Soccer News From Stadium Rant Here: Soccer News
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to our newsletter here. Check out Stadium Rant Original shows on our Youtube channel and subscribe! Give our socials Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok a follow for more great content!
