Erick Thohir thanks Shin Tae-yong, welcomes Patrick Kluivert

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Chairman of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) Erick Thohir once again extended his appreciation to former coach of the Indonesian national football team Shin Tae-yong while welcoming new coach Patrick Kluivert on Instagram on Saturday.

"Thank you, Coach Shin Tae-yong, for everything you have done for the Indonesian national team. Now, it is time to welcome Coach Patrick Kluivert as we begin a new chapter in Indonesian football," he noted on his Instagram account @erickhohir.

In the Instagram post, Thohir posted two pictures, each taken with Shin and his Dutch successor.

On Monday (January 6), the PSSI announced the termination of Shin's contract as the team's head coach before unveiling Kluivert, a Dutch football legend, two days later.

Shin then posted a message on his Instagram, thanking Thohir and the PSSI for giving him great support during his spell as the national team's coach.

He also expressed hope that Indonesia would qualify for the 2026 World Cup in Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

Having managed the Garuda Squad since 2020, the South Korean coach managed to record some notable achievements with the team despite the fact of not winning any trophy.

During his term, Team Indonesia managed to reach the knockout stage of the 2023 Asian Cup, qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup, advance to the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, and climb the FIFA rankings from 173rd to 129th.

In the ongoing World Cup qualifiers, Shin led the team to collect six points with four matches remaining, setting a new record for Southeast Asian football.

Kluivert, a former striker of Barcelona and AC Milan, arrived in Indonesia via Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Tangerang, Banten, on Saturday (January 11).

His first task is to prepare the team for upcoming matches in the World Cup qualifiers against Australia, Bahrain, China, and Japan.

The target has been set to at least finish fourth in Group C of the qualifiers to advance to the fourth round. With six points collected, Indonesia currently sits third below Japan and Australia.