General Chairman of the Indonesian Football Association Erick Thohir admitted that the Indonesian National Team’s target points missed in round three of the 2026 World Cup Qualification.
Erick Thohir admitted that he could not dream of beautiful dreams even though the Indonesian National Team won 2-0 over Saudi Arabia last week.
This victory lifted the Garuda Squad’s position to third place in Group C standings. Even so, Erick Thohir believes that Indonesia still has a tough task.
“It’s not a beautiful dream yet. The work is not finished yet, the target is not to win per game, but how can we get the opportunity to qualify for the World Cup,” said Erick Thohir.
On this occasion, Erick Thohir touched on the issue of the Indonesian National Team’s target being missed. Indonesia was originally expected to get 15 points to be in the top four of Group C.
From this target, the Red and White Team is expected to achieve victory in the away matches against Bahrain and China last October.
However, Shin Tae Yong’s team only drew against Bahrain and lost 1-2 to China. Erick also touched on the defeat from China.
“We had to get a total of 15 points to be ranked 2nd, there was a calculation at that time,” said Erick.
“It turns out we missed, but again, with the quality of the players we have, we have to be optimistic, the game against China should be a golden opportunity,” added Erick.
“I’m a strict person, so I just make sure we get back on track, that’s the point where we have to get points, even three points,” said Erick.
“Indeed, this group is a hellish group. With yesterday’s position we won, we are back on track, we are alive again, but if we lost yesterday we would only have three points. The match against Saudi yesterday was really life and death,” said Erick continued.