Jakarta - The day before the match, Indonesian national team coach Patrick Kluivert admitted that he had a good feeling against Australia in the seventh match of the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers at the Sydney Football Stadium, Thursday night.
Coming as a former player who made his name at Barcelona and the Dutch national team, Kluivert brought great expectations. His arrival was initially doubted, but slowly began to gain trust.
After being officially announced two months ago, fans' optimism began to form because of Kluivert's openness to paying attention to local talents from Liga 1 Indonesia. His debut was then predicted to be in accordance with what was planned.
One point was Kluivert's initial target. As time went on, with the addition of four new players in Ole Romeny, Joey Pelupessy, Dean James and Emil Audero, and Australia's unconvincing performance in the last three games, Kluivert's target changed.
The one-point target turned into three points to be brought home from Sydney. This optimism also emerged after the first meeting at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium (SUGBK), Jakarta, in September last year, Indonesia managed to hold the Socceroos to a 0-0 draw.
"We came here to get a good result, and a good result means winning," said Kluivert while leading his first training session at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, Sydney, Tuesday (21/3).
However, fate had other plans. In reality, the premonition Kluivert felt at the pre-match press conference turned into a nightmare.
With a 3-4-1-2 formation, with Ole Romeny and Dean James as new debutants, Indonesia did play promisingly at the beginning of the match. Captain Jay Idzes' on-target header that was blocked by Mathew Ryan in the 5th minute initiated a dangerous threat to Australia's goal.
Three minutes later, Indonesia got a penalty after Rafael Struick was fouled in the penalty box. Indonesian fans who filled Sydney roared. But unfortunately Kevin Diks who acted as the executioner failed because the ball he kicked hit the goal post. Kevin's failure changed the course of the game.