Football Analyst Reveals Why Indonesia's Game Plan Failed Against Saudi Arabia

October 9, 2025 | 04:23 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian football observer Mohamad Kusnaeni believes that the Indonesia national team’s game plan was ineffective during their 2–3 defeat to Saudi Arabia in the fourth round of the 2026 World Cup Asian Qualifiers.

The match took place at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah on Thursday early morning, October 9, 2025.

According to Kusnaeni, Patrick Kluivert’s men actually started the game well, even taking the lead through Kevin Diks’ penalty in the 11th minute.

“The game plan made by the coach was actually in line with expectations. Unfortunately, it was not executed properly,” Kusnaeni said in Jakarta.

Kluivert deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation, featuring Joey Pelupessy and Marc Klok as the defensive midfield duo tasked with limiting Saudi Arabia’s midfield aggressiveness.

Up front, he relied on the pace of Miliano Jonathan on the right wing and Beckham Putra on the left to break through the opponent’s defense.

However, Kusnaeni noted that the Pelupessy–Klok partnership failed to function effectively, often losing duels and lacking cohesion. This allowed Saudi Arabia to dominate the midfield. Frequent errors from Indonesian players further disrupted the team’s balance.

Indonesian National Team football player Jay Noah Idzes fighting for the ball against Saudi Arabian football player Hassan Al Tambakti during the fourth round match of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in the Asian zone at King Abdullah Sport City Stadium, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, October 8, 2025. Between/HO-PSSI.

“Our weakness in midfield made the attack one-dimensional,” he said.

Kusnaeni also criticized coach Kluivert’s slow response in adjusting tactics and making substitutions. Changes only came after Indonesia fell behind 1–2, which led to repetitive and less creative attacking patterns.

“When Ole Romeny and Thom Haye came in, the team’s balance began to improve, but it was too late to turn things around,” he added.

He hopes the defeat will serve as a valuable lesson for the coaching staff to be more decisive in selecting players and responding to in-game situations.

“In the next match against Iraq, player selection must be sharper, and the team must be quicker to adapt when the initial strategy doesn’t work,” Kusnaeni said.

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