JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesia sacked coach Shin Tae-yong on Monday with the country’s football chief saying the team needed stronger leadership as it battles for a place at the 2026 World Cup.
Tens of millions of people in the Southeast Asian nation are passionate football fans, but Indonesia’s sole World Cup appearance came during Dutch rule in 1938 and the country has rarely threatened a return since independence in 1945.
Erick Thohir, who heads the Indonesia Football Association (PSSI), said Shin’s work with the team had “ended” and his replacement, whom he declined to name, would arrive in Indonesia on Jan. 11.
“We need a leadership that implements strategies as agreed with the players, communicates better, and implements better programmes for our national team,” Thohir told a press conference.
Indonesia are third in their World Cup group after six of 10 matches, one point behind Australia in the battle for the second automatic spot in the finals.
Reuters has sought comment from Shin via his social media.
If they finish third or fourth, they could still get to the finals in North America through further rounds of qualifying and an intercontinental playoff.
Thohir, who said he had interviewed three candidates to replace Shin during a recent trip to Europe, was not concerned that changing coaches in the middle of the campaign would disrupt the team.
“It’s normal. Lots of countries switch coaches during World Cup qualifiers,” he added.
“This is something we’ve been discussing for many months back, but I think the moment is right, because we still have 2 1/2 months preparation for next games.
“We still have four matches and we want to get as many points as we can.”
South Korean Shin took over as coach in 2019 and Thohir said he would be compensated for the remainder of his contract, which runs to 2027.
Shin benefited from a PSSI policy of enticing members of the Indonesian diaspora, mostly born in the Netherlands, to play for the national team.
Indonesia were the only Southeast Asian nation to reach the third round of qualifying and last November stunned regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia 2-0 in Jakarta.
Shin needed an interpreter to coach the team and Thohir said he would be looking for improved communication and better technical guidance from his replacement.
Thohir, who used to own Italian club Inter Milan, said he had made it clear to the candidates that qualifying for the World Cup was the main priority.
“All the candidates that we interviewed during the five days I was in Europe … agreed that this was the target,” he said.
“This is why they agreed to join the interviews.”
(Reporting by Stanley Widianto; writing by Nick Mulvenney in Sydney; Editing by Kate Mayberry and Saad Sayeed)
