The Indonesian national team is still missing two key stars

On the eve of the second Group A fixture of the 2026 ASEAN Cup against Timor Leste, Indonesia is still dealing with personnel problems.

Marselino Ferdinan and Ragnar Oratmangoen have been confirmed absent from the match between Indonesia and Timor Leste in Thailand. When the Indonesian team left their hotel in Jakarta to head to Soekarno-Hatta Airport on Thursday morning (July 30, 2026), neither player was present.

The absence of Marselino Ferdinan and Ragnar Oratmangoen came as no surprise. Earlier, in Indonesia's 5-1 victory over Cambodia in the opening match of Group A of the 2026 ASEAN Cup on July 27, both players were sidelined as they had not yet reached peak fitness.

Marselino Ferdinan did not even take part in the official training session of the Indonesian team before the match against Cambodia. Meanwhile, Ragnar Oratmangoen was named on the substitutes' bench but was not used by head coach John Herdman. Worse still, Marselino was not even registered in the 23-man matchday squad.

The chairman of the Indonesian Football Association, Erick Thohir, previously confirmed that Ragnar lacked sufficient fitness, so the coaching staff decided not to risk using the winger. He also stated that both Marselino and Ragnar are in the recovery process and hoped they would soon reach their best condition.

Of course, the Indonesian team is not overly concerned about missing Marselino Ferdinan and Ragnar Oratmangoen for the match against Timor Leste. With their current squad, they have enough strength to secure three points against Timor Leste.

Nevertheless, Indonesian fans are hoping that these two stars will recover soon to be ready for the match against the Vietnamese team on August 3. The return of Ragnar Oratmangoen and Marselino would provide additional attacking options for Indonesia.

According to football expert Rizal Pahlevi, Mitchell Baker can fully become a worthy alternative to Ole Romeny, the striker on whom Indonesia heavily relied. However, Rizal Pahlevi also noted that Baker still needs more time to prove his consistency, as a single match performance is not enough to establish long-term value.

Therefore, in a cup tournament like the 2026 ASEAN Cup, head coach John Herdman will need additional attacking threats to share the workload in case Baker fails to maintain high form. It should be remembered that Baker is only 19 years old and the 2026 ASEAN Cup is his first tournament wearing the Indonesian national team jersey.

Meanwhile, Ragnar Oratmangoen and Marselino Ferdinan are more experienced than Baker. Both contributed to Indonesia's qualification for the final round of the 2026 World Cup Asian qualifiers. Among them, winger Marselino Ferdinan impressed with a goal against Iraq and a brace against Saudi Arabia.

From another perspective, if the duo returns, that would be a worrying prospect for Indonesia's opponents in the 2026 ASEAN Cup.