Without leading the Indonesian team in any match, coach Patrick Kluivert has faced many criticisms, even calls for him to quit.
According to statistics pageTweetBinder, in just the past 7 days there have been over 100 posts on social mediaXhas the hashtag #KluivertOut.
The Dutch coach was only introduced to the team on January 12, and has not even had a training session with the Indonesian players. They can only gather in March 2025, to play matches against Australia and Bahrain in Group C, the third round of Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.
The reason many Indonesian fans oppose Kluivert is because his record as head coach is not good. At Curacao or Adana Demirspor (Turkey), the 48-year-old coach's winning rate is only 50% or less. "Appointing Kluivert is like a gamble," said the account@Titipan_MafiaComment, with the above hashtag.
Kluivert is a famous striker, named by the legendary Pele in the list of 125 greatest living players in 2004. He retired in 2008, then went through many assistant positions before becoming the head coach of the Curacao team. However, Kluivert has not achieved any significant achievements in his coaching career. He was appointed to lead Indonesia, thanks to his reputation as a Dutch player - where many Indonesian players were born and raised.
Many Indonesian fans also protested against Kluivert because they were surprised when coach Shin Tae-yong was fired despite leading the team to a 2-0 win over Saudi Arabia in the last World Cup qualifier. The Korean coach failed to gain the trust of some of the mixed-race Indonesian players, so he lost his job.
However, Kluivert has the backing of several Indonesian coaches. Coach Ricky Nelson said that Kluivert's previous coaching statistics did not mean much, as they depended on the quality of the players. Coach Isman Jasulmei believes that the Dutchman will help Indonesia improve their attacking ability.
"Kluivert was a striker before, and grew up in a country famous for total attacking football," Jaselmei toldBola"Therefore, he will help Indonesia play beautifully, in line with the philosophy I want. I am eager to see how Indonesia will perform under Kluivert."
In Group C, Japan is almost certain to qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup finals with 16 points after 6 matches. The remaining five teams, including Australia (7 points), Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and China (6 points), will compete for the remaining direct entry spot and 2 spots in the fourth qualifying round.
VN (synthesis)