New Indonesia head coach Patrick Kluivert has taken positives from his first game in charge which ended in a 5-1 defeat to Australia in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, Afrosport reports.
The Red and Whites had a torrid outing in Sydney, losing an eighth-minute penalty before the Socceroos established a 3-0 first-half lead and added two more in the closing 30 minutes.
Kluivert, who replaced Shin Tae-yong in January, now wants his team to regroup and focus on their next qualifier at home against Bahrain on Tuesday.
“The positive is that we kept on going and the spirit of the team will always be there,” the Dutch legend said.
“You guys don’t see the spirit… what we have in the team. We will react absolutely against Bahrain.
“But now we have to digest first the defeat and look at each other what somebody did wrong. Also, me, maybe I did something wrong.”
Kluivert believes the outcome of the match might have been different had Kevin Diks not missed the eighth-minute spot-kick.
“It’s very easy to point your finger and I don’t like to point fingers,” he added. “In the beginning, we dominated the game. If the penalty was going in, it was a totally different game. I’m confident about this.”
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Indonesia are fourth in Group C of the qualifiers, tied on six points with Bahrain and China in fifth and sixth respectively and are three points behind third-placed Saudi Arabia and four behind second-placed Australia.
Japan are top Group C and are the first team to qualify for the World Cup finals.
The top two will secure automatic qualification straight to the World Cup while the teams finishing third and fourth will go into a further round of qualifying.
