JAKARTA/SINGAPORE: New Indonesia coach John Herdman is relishing leading the nation into the Asean Hyundai Cup for the first time in July and August as the Englishman begins the process to establish the country among the region’s elite.
Indonesia will face off against defending champions Vietnam, four-time winners Singapore, Cambodia and either Timor-Leste or Brunei in Group A of the competition with Herdman thrilled at the prospect of experiencing his first taste of the Asean Championship, the jewel in the crown of Asean football.
“I’m really excited about the Hyundai Cup because, having lived the Gold Cup in CONCACAF, it just has a different feel,” the former Canada coach, who was appointed to replace Patrick Kluivert in January, says of the keenly-contested regional competition.
“The players you work with are so hungry. Typically, these are the guys who are making way for the European players, the ones in Serie A and the Bundesliga, but this is their chance, and if you harness that, there’s a real connection to each other and the fans and the tournament.
“That’s the one I’m really excited for this year. I’m desperate to experience the South-East Asian passion. Coming from Newcastle, all I can relate to is the Sunderland-Newcastle derby, and apparently here the rivalries are on steroids!”
Indonesia will be attempting to win the Hyundai Cup for the first time after six runners-up finishes since the competition was first launched in 1996, and Herdman will have the opportunity to experience the home crowd's passion when his side faces Cambodia on July 31.
From there, they will take on either Timor-Leste or Brunei four days later before hosting champions Vietnam on August 3 and travelling to play Singapore in their final Group A clash on August 7. The top two finishers in the six-nation group will advance to the semi-finals.
As it celebrates 30 years, the Hyundai Cup will serve as a major landmark in a hectic year for Herdman and his charges, with Indonesia due to host the FIFA Series in March before playing further friendlies in June.
Once the country has completed its Hyundai Cup commitments, Indonesia will feature in the Asian Games in Japan before fine-tuning its preparations for the AFC Asian Cup finals in Saudi Arabia next January.
“Players and staff want to be in that rhythm; this is what AFC and FIFA have achieved at the international level,” says Herdman of the packed calendar. “There’s just no rest for any country now, which is good because it means progression, progression, progression.
“In the past, you may have to miss windows because you couldn’t afford it or you couldn’t get a proper opponent. This is the exciting thing.
“All roads are building towards the Asian Cup, so these are all stepping stones and I’m hoping in the Hyundai Cup I can test the depth and see which players, maybe some young players, will accelerate and springboard through that tournament.
“I’m excited. I get lots of opportunities to see a wide range of players.”
Herdman has an abundance of experience in team building, having experienced success working in the women’s game in New Zealand before moving to Canada to further enhance his reputation there.
After leading the country’s women’s team to the bronze medal at the Olympics in 2012 and 2016, he made the move to work with the men’s team and steered the country to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
Breaking that nation’s 36-year World Cup drought ensured Herdman caught the eye of Indonesia Football Association (PSSI) president Erick Thohir and, after the Timnas fell short of qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 50-year-old was installed in January.
“Projects are important,” says Herdman. “A real project that can ignite your passion. You can stop a country when you qualify a country for the World Cup for the first time in 36 years, and it’s not even a football country.
“You know those memories can’t be bought, and there’s no price in football that can pay for that. To think you can do that with 280 million people in a country, it’s special. It’s a gift. This is what I enjoy; transformational leadershi,p and hopefully we can take an underdog somewhere it’s not been before.”
The prospect of working under Thohir, who is also Indonesia’s minister of youth and sports and previously owned Serie A club Inter Milan, gives Herdman the confidence to believe the national team has the backing to continue setting new benchmarks.
“We have a talent base that has grown; you can see the qualitative advantages are starting to increase, but also you have a president in Erick Thohir who is a visionary and who really wants to take his country to the next level,” he says.
“You absolutely need that visionary. And underneath that, you’ve got the passion of the fans, so you’re not fighting against anything. You’ve actually got the wind behind your sails.
“That can be a gift and a curse. It can be a curse because there’s so much expectation, and we haven’t earned the right to have that expectation yet.
“But I think we’re on the cusp of doing something where we can build belief, some respect in who we are as a nation, and then build a real expectation of qualifying for a World Cup. That’s the mission over a four-year period.”
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