Shin Tae-yong, the Korean national soccer coach who aims to participate in the World Cup, will be dismissed after four years.
Indonesia has sacked men’s soccer coach Shin Tae-yong, with the country’s head of football saying stronger leadership is needed for the team to compete for a spot in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
“We need leadership to implement the strategy agreed with the players, communicate better and implement a better program for the national team,” Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) president Eric Tohir said at a press conference on Monday. he said.
Tohir said Singh’s work with the team had “ended” and that his replacement, who he did not name, would arrive in Indonesia on January 11.
The Southeast Asian country has tens of millions of passionate soccer fans, but Indonesia’s only appearance in the World Cup was in 1938 under Dutch rule, and the country has threatened to return since independence in 1945. There were hardly any.
Indonesia finished in 3rd place in the World Cup group after 6 out of 10 matches, leaving them 1 point behind Australia in the race for second place in the automatic finals tournament.
Even if they finish third or fourth, they have a chance to advance to the North American finals through further qualifying rounds and an intercontinental playoff.
Tohir, who said he met with three potential replacements for Singh during a recent trip to Europe, was not concerned that a mid-campaign coaching change would disrupt the team.
“It’s normal. Many countries change managers during World Cup qualifiers,” he added.
“This is something we’ve been talking about for months, but we still have two and a half months to prepare for the next game, so I think now is the right time.
“We still have four games left, so we want to get as many points as possible.”
South Korean Shin took over as coach in 2019 and Tohir said he would be paid for the remainder of his contract until 2027.
Singh benefited from PSSI’s policy of attracting members of the Indonesian diaspora, mainly of Dutch origin, to play for the national team.
Indonesia is the only Southeast Asian country to advance to the third round of qualifying, defeating regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia 2-0 in Jakarta last November.
