Sports News | Indonesia Hires Former Barcelona Star Patrick Kluivert as Head Coach

Jakarta, Jan 8 (AP) Indonesia hired former Barcelona striker Patrick Kluivert as head coach on Wednesday.

The announcement came two days after the PSSI, Indonesia's soccer federation, dismissed Shin Tae-yong despite the South Korean taking the Southeast Asian nation to within sight of a first World Cup appearance since 1938 when it competed as the Dutch East Indies.

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“PSSI has officially appointed Patrick Kluivert as the new coach of the Indonesian National Team,” PSSI said in a statement. “The Dutch coach has been contracted for two years from 2025 to 2027 with an option to extend the contract.”

Kluivert, 48, had a stellar playing career, winning the Champions League with Ajax, and has prior international coaching experience in charge of Curacao.

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The former AC Milan and Newcastle striker was also assistant coach to Louis van Gaal with the Netherlands and Clarence Seedorf with Cameroon. Kluivert is set to arrive in Jakarta on Saturday ahead of Sunday's official unveiling.

The former Netherlands star will work with a team that now has a strong Dutch flavor. The majority of the starting eleven that defeated Saudi Arabia 2-0 in November in the last World Cup qualifier were born in the Netherlands and then naturalized in order to represent Indonesia.

Under Shin, Indonesia climbed into third place in the six-team Group C in the third round of qualification for the 2026 World Cup with six points, just one point behind Australia in second. Japan is nine points clear of Australia in first place.

The top two qualify automatically for the expanded 48-team World Cup, with the third and fourth place teams advancing to the next stage.

Kluivert's first competitive game in charge will be against Australia in Sydney on March 20. (AP) UNG 7/21/2024

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