The naturalized people in Indonesia "kicked" Trussier out of class

The fourth round of the second phase of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in Asia has come to an end, and the Southeast Asian teams have basically tasted defeat, with only Indonesia claiming a crucial victory, beating Vietnam 3-0 at the My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi. Indonesia are now in second place in Group F, five points behind leaders Iraq, but four points clear of Vietnam.

And this result also led to the immediate dismissal of the head coach of the Vietnamese team, Philippe Trussier. According to Vietnamese media reports, due to the early termination of Trussier's contract, the Vietnam Football Association also had to pay Trussier a certain amount of compensation.

At the beginning of 2023, Troussier signed a three-year contract with the Vietnam Football Association, which expires on July 31, 2026. But under Troussier's leadership, the Vietnamese team did not achieve the expected results. After exiting the group stage of the 2023 Asian Cup and losing 3-0 to Indonesia, Vietnam almost lost hope of continuing to participate in the Asian round of 18 in the World Preliminary Championships, and Vietnam's international ranking also fell to 154th, the lowest ranking since November 2017.

After consultation with Troussier, the Vietnam Football Association made the decision to terminate the contract early. During the discussions, Trussier agreed to be compensated with three months' salary, which is about 4 to 5 billion VND (1.16 million to 1.45 million yuan). This figure is much lower compared to the full salary that the Vietnam Football Association has to pay about 40 billion VND (11.66 million yuan).

In the last World Cup qualifiers round of 40, Indonesia only had one point from eight games, a goal difference of -22, and a total of six goals were scored in the two games against Vietnam. And now, Indonesia has beaten Vietnam twice in 6 days and firmly grasped the initiative to advance to the next stage of the competition. In the next game against Iraq, even if Indonesia loses, as long as Indonesia can beat the bottom of the group in the last game, it will be enough to secure the next stage of World Cup qualifying and automatically qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup.

The rapid rise of the Indonesian team is due to their naturalization policy, and there are currently several naturalized players born in the Netherlands in the Indonesian squad, such as 24-year-old central defender Ezes who came from the PSV Eindhoven academy and now plays for Venice in Serie B, Justin Hubnel who currently plays for Sakura Osaka, Tom Haye, the main midfielder of Heerenveen in the Eredivisie, Struk in The Hague, and Olatmangun in Fortuna.

Last night's game, it was naturalized players Izes and Olatamang who established a two-goal advantage for Indonesia in the first half, and finally scored the winning goal in the second half by 22-year-old rising star Ramadan Sananta.

In addition to the success of the naturalization policy, Shen Tailong also contributed to the rise of the Indonesian team. At the beginning of 2020, Shin Tae-ryong became the first South Korean coach in the history of the Indonesian team, and the U20, U23 and senior national teams were shoulder-to-shoulder. In 2020, the Indonesian team won the runner-up in the Southeast Asian Cup, equaling the best record in team history, and in 2023, it won the runner-up in the U23 Southeast Asian Cup, entered the top 16 of the men's football team in the Hangzhou Asian Games, and reached the finals of the U23 Asian Cup for the first time in team history, and Indonesia entered the round of 16 in the 2023 Asian Cup to create the best result in team history.

Since Park Hengxu, Shin Tae-ryong has become another head coach who has led the rise of the Southeast Asian national team. The Vietnamese team once became the light of Southeast Asia under the training of Park Hengxu, and the tragedy on the first day of the Lunar New Year has become an unforgettable scar for Chinese fans. But since Trussier replaced Park Hengxu last year, the Vietnamese team has been on the decline, and the clearest contrast is that the Vietnamese team has maintained a six-game unbeaten streak against Indonesia between 2016 and 2023, but the Vietnamese team has lost to Indonesia three times in a row since 2024.

There is no doubt that excellent naturalized players and excellent coaches are the twin pillars of a national team's rise, and both are indispensable. And these two, the former Chinese team has both, if Lippi had waited for naturalized players, would everything be different?