Grab points, national football opponents are more "dare to fight"

The reporter reported coldly Ivankovic grabbed points against his main rivals in the "race for four" instead of fighting hard against the top three teams, which is a lack of courage compared to fellow opponents Indonesia and Bahrain. Indonesia and Bahrain have nothing to do with Japan, where they are too strong, to treat the other teams the same: every game must be scored for the purpose of scoring. In the end, the two teams' strategy of "dare to think and dare to win" also paid off handsomely.

Indonesia are the second-to-last team in the world ranking for the round of 18 (just above Kuwait) and the only team to have played all three stages of the World Cup Asian qualifiers. In the past 17 months, the Indonesian team has improved significantly. In July 2023, Indonesia was ranked 150th in the world and 28th in Asia at the draw for the first knockout round and round of 36. When they beat Brunei Darussalam twice in October to reach the round of 36, they rose to 146th in the world and 27th in Asia. Before the start of the round of 18 last year, the Indonesian team was ranked 133rd in the world and 23rd in Asia. After beating Bahrain in March, Indonesia is ranked 123rd in the world, up 10 places from before the round of 18, and 22nd in Asia.

A large number of naturalized players is the confidence of the Indonesian team to fight with weakness. In the first two games of the round of 18 last year, Indonesia drew away to Saudi Arabia and Australia at home, and there were 9 naturalized players in the starting 11 and 11 naturalized players in the 23-man squad. The 23-man squad that beat Bahrain at home in March now has 18 naturalised players. Whether it is South Korean coach Shin Tae-ryong or Dutchman Kluivert after the change of coach, their strategy is very clear: strive to score points in every game, and even more so in a home stadium that occupies a favorable location. Only then will Indonesia have any hope of completing its goal of reaching the play-offs.

In addition to losing to Japan in the previous 4 home games, the remaining 3 home games won 2 and drew 1. The draw with Australia, who are ranked 109 places above him, in September, the victory over Saudi Arabia, who are ranked 71 places above him, in November, and the victory over Bahrain, who are ranked 46 places above him, in March, were all the result of Indonesia's pragmatic counter-attacking tactics. As the sixth pot team in the round of 18, Indonesia has won all nine points from the top four teams, including five points against Australia (second pot) and Saudi Arabia (third pot), and one win and one draw against Saudi Arabia, remaining unbeaten.

In stark contrast to the Indonesian team is Bahrain. Bahrain have relied almost entirely on players playing in their home league, with coach Al-Taladzic focusing on counter-attacking and counter-attacking efficiency from the start of the tie-out on 18 September last year. Bahrain are better at using defensive counter-attacking tactics to create miracles on the road, with one win, three draws and two losses in the first six rounds of the round of 18, and the first away game in September last year to beat Australia, which is ranked 56 above them in the world, was the first big upset in the round of 18. After that, Bahrain drew with Saudi Arabia away from home, which directly led to Mancini's dismissal. In November, Australia lost two points to a stoppage-time draw at home. Like Indonesia, Bahrain are also in Pot 2 and Pot 3 with five points.

In contrast, the national football team lost all the teams in the top three brackets and did not score a single point. Despite consecutive wins over Bahrain and Indonesia, the two closest teams last year, their poor results against the top three teams directly led to a total passivity in the race for a play-off spot, and even Saudi Arabia was able to take a valuable point away from home against Japan, which was ahead of a cliff. The difference between the two teams in the world rankings is 44 places, and they are the same as the weak fighting the strong. In fact, the national football team is not without the possibility of scoring points on teams ranked higher in the world, last year's home game against Saudi Arabia and away against Australia, the national football team was the first goal, and they were eventually reversed by the opponent.