Barely two months out from decisive FIFA World Cup™ qualifiers against Australia and Bahrain the Football Association of Indonesian (PSSI) have sacked long-serving head coach Shin Taeyong.
Speaking at a press conference to announce the decision, PSSI Chairman Erick Thohir said the move was made with the aim of ensuring the nation can qualify for the global finals for just the second time.
“We are targeting to qualify for the World Cup and this is something we have been discussing for many months now, but the moment had to be right because right now we still have two-and-a-half months preparation for the next games.
“We still have four matches left that we want to gather as many points from as we can. The dynamics around communication is one of the issues [we were looking to improve] but also we feel we need a coach who can improve the players tactically.”
Appointed in late December 2019, the Korea Republic coach led Indonesia to the knockout stage of the AFC Asian Cup for the first time as they fell to Australia 4-0 in the round of 16 at the 2023 edition.
He also oversaw advancement to the ongoing third round of AFC qualification for FIFA World Cup 26™ where the Garuda are locked in a fierce battle to earn a direct slot to the global showpiece or progression through to the fourth round.
With six of the ten matches in the phase played, Indonesia sit third in the six-nation group, just a point behind Australia, who occupy the second direct qualification slot. A win when that pair clash in Australia on 20 March would be a major boost to the nation’s long-cherished dream of returning to the World Cup for the first time since 1938.
Shin was also part of a radical overhaul of the national squad where more than a dozen players of Indonesian heritage, primarily from the Netherlands, acquired citizenship. Those new arrivals have come to form the nucleus of the starting XI over the past year and Thohir confirmed that, having already decided on their preferred target, the new coach will be European and is widely expected to be Dutch.
“As I said, our target is to qualify for the World Cup. All the candidates we interviewed during the five days I was in Europe, most of them agreed with that target and this is why they agreed to join the interviews. They have a desire to leave a legacy individually, as we do as a country.”
Thohir also announced that the new coach is set to arrive in Indonesia on 11 January, with an official unveiling the following day.
