Coach Shin Tae-yong, who is leading the Indonesian national soccer team, made a miraculous victory in the face of sudden replacement. He defeated Saudi Arabia, the powerhouse of the Middle East, and secured his long-awaited first win in the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup.메이저놀이터
Coach Shin, who took the helm of Indonesia in 2020, advanced Indonesia to the qualifying stage, where the World Cup finals will be decided for the first time, and led the team to a historic first victory at this stage.
Ahead of the match, his pledge and promise that "Saudi Arabia can win. I will definitely catch it" became a reality.
Coach Shin achieved a shocking complete victory that could be talked about in Asian soccer history.
In particular, it has become even more meaningful in that the opponent has recently advanced to the World Cup finals twice and Saudi Arabia, which advanced to the round of 16 at the 1994 U.S. World Cup.
Indonesia's national soccer team, led by head coach Shin, beat Saudi Arabia 2-0 in the home game against Saudi Arabia in the 32nd minute of the first half and the 7th minute of the second half in the 6th Group C match of the 3rd Asian qualifying round for the North-China World Cup at Gelora Bungcarno, a large stadium in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, on the 19th (Korea time).
Through this victory, Indonesia won its first victory in the third qualifying round and revived its hopes of advancing to the World Cup finals for the first time in 88 years since the 1938 France World Cup.
In Group C, the Japanese are ranking first with five wins and one draw (16 points), and the remaining five teams are engaged in a difficult race with almost all the tickets to the finals. Australia, which drew 2-2 in Bahrain on the day, is ranking second with one win, four draws and one loss, seven points, but Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and China are all ranking third to sixth with six points, just one point behind Australia.
We don't know which of the five teams will win the ticket to the finals given to the first and second place in each group in the third qualifying round.
Coach Shin Tae-yong, who led Indonesia's soccer history to advance to the third Asian qualifying round for the first World Cup, aims to advance to the fourth qualifying round, which is given to a total of six teams ranked third and fourth in each group, rather than a direct ticket to the finals, where he is given 2.33 tickets to the finals.
However, in the current situation, it is not impossible to go straight to the finals by ranking second in Group C as well as in the fourth qualifying round.
Indonesia will take on Australia, Bahrain, China and Japan in March and June next year.
Notably, Shin's victory on the day was also valuable to him in many ways. This is because there were absurd public opinions that Shin, who is leading the heyday of Indonesian soccer, should be replaced.
Indonesia made significant achievements in its own way by holding three consecutive draws at the beginning of the third qualifying round, but its fan sentiment changed 180 degrees as it lost 1-2 and 0-4 in succession against China and Japan. Ahead of the third qualifying round, Indonesia granted a large number of Indonesian players born in the Netherlands to qualify for the national team. Players who play in good leagues in Europe and the United States, including the Netherlands' first division, have built up competitiveness, and there have been many criticisms of Shin, with some saying that they were not utilized properly while setting up a thorough lineup of skills.
In the end, some even said that if the performance against Saudi Arabia is bad, coach Shin should be retired.
Coach Shin put to rest such ungrateful public opinion through a complete victory.
Indonesia was also ahead of Saudi Arabia in content on the day. It dominated the best team in the Middle East by solid defense and fast counterattacks.
Indonesia, which hit the ground early in the first half because striker Rafael Strwick failed to score in a one-on-one chance, saved the second chance as if to show. When Ragnar Oratmangoen beat the opposing defenders on the left side and gave up a cutback pass, Ferdinand, who was in front of the penalty area, shook the net with a right foot swirling.
Ferdinand, who plays for Oxford United in England's second division, calmly kicked it back with his right foot when his shot inside the penalty area hit the opponent's wall and headed back to him in the 12th minute of the second half.