Goalkeeper Marten Pace has reportedly been officially granted Indonesian citizenship and is eligible to represent the country's national team in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
The player, Martin Pace, is currently the top goalkeeper in Major League Soccer (MLS). According to reports, on April 30, the Indonesian Football Association completed the final formalities for the Dallas FC goalkeeper to represent Indonesia. Pace was born in the Netherlands, but his maternal grandfather was Indonesian.
As a young goalkeeper born in 1998, Pace is one of the best in Major League Soccer (MLS). His addition is expected to significantly strengthen the Indonesian national team in the goalkeeper position.
The goalkeeper position has been a major shortcoming in Indonesian football in recent years, and the arrival of Pace is expected to improve the situation. This season, Pace has excelled on the defensive end as Dallas' first-choice goalkeeper, helping the team maintain 12th place in the Major League Soccer West Standings.
On the morning of April 30, Pace attended the naturalization ceremony in Indonesia. Despite FC Dallas' poor performance in attack (just nine goals), the team's backline has been solid under Pest, keeping four clean sheets since the start of the season.
Despite only 10 rounds played and Dallas finished bottom of the group, they had the best defensive performance of the tournament (conceding just 12 times).
Pace began his career at the Dutch club, where he was a member of the Dutch Under-19, Under-20 and Under-21 national teams before moving to Major League Soccer in 2022. In addition to Pest, the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) plans to naturalize three other Dutch players, namely Lavin, Verdonk and Romeni.
The players are all of Indonesian descent and meet the criteria for naturalization. Apart from two young players, Rommeni and LaVine, Verdonk (27) is one of the top left-backs in the Dutch Bundestier this season.
Following the successful naturalization of Paez, the Indonesian Football Federation expects the aforementioned three players to complete the naturalization procedures in time and participate in the second phase of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Iraq on June 6. Regardless of Vietnam's results, Indonesia only needs to score at least three points in the last two matches to secure a qualification for the third stage of qualifying.
With Pace officially becoming an Indonesian citizen on April 30, the naturalized lineup of the Indonesian team has been basically completed, and there are naturalized players on all fronts. As one of the top goalkeepers in Major League Soccer, Pace's presence will assist coach Shin Tai Long in solving the goalkeeper problem in Indonesian football for many years.
Defensively, centre-back Jay Ishes has quickly emerged since his time with Indonesia. The nearly two-metre-tall player currently plays for Venezia in the Italian second division and is also expected to play in Serie A next season.
Another centre-back, Justin Habner, has been on the spotlight of fans in recent months, as he belongs to Wolves in the Premier League and is currently on loan at Sakura Osaka and has been highly praised by experts.
Left-back Nathan Jo-Ann, who is on loan at Heerenveen from Swansea City, is another naturalised star who has quickly made an impression on Indonesia. In the recent U23 Asian Cup, the 2001-born player performed well.
At right-back, Indonesia can rely on Sandy Walsh, who has played for Belgian top clubs such as Genk and Anderlecht. Walsh's mother, who is Indonesian, currently plays for Mechelen FC, which is competing for a place in the Belgian league for the European season.
In terms of midfield, the most valuable midfielder in Southeast Asian football, Tom Haye (worth 3 million euros), is the most recognizable name among the Indonesian players naturalized at the beginning of the year. Heyer quickly showed his quality against Vietnam last month. In the forward line, Indonesia also have an excellent naturalized player, Ragnar Oratmanghosn, who plays for Dutch Fortuna Sittard.
Ivar Jenner currently plays for the Dutch team Utrel and has recently played an important role in the midfield of the Indonesian national team. The 20-year-old midfielder has quite impressive tactical vision and ball handling skills.
Rafael Struk is often used as a striker for the Indonesian national team or the country's U23 team by head coach Shin Tae Yongyong. After a disappointing first stage, Strucker has started to shine recently, scoring in both the 2026 World Cup qualifiers and the Under-23 Asian Cup.
In addition to the aforementioned players, Indonesia has a number of other naturalized players such as midfield duo Jordi Amat and Elkan Baggett, midfielder Mark Klok or well-known star Stefano Lilipali. However, these players have struggled to compete with the recently naturalized group of young players. The Indonesian Football Association plans to naturalize at least 3 to 5 more players, mainly Dutch players, in the near future.