Indonesia
In 1938, as the Dutch East Indies, Indonesia had reached the World Cup finals proper, albeit they hadn’t played a single qualifier. Along with Japan, they were the sole entries from Eastern Asia, and when Japan withdrew from the qualification play-off against the Dutch East Indies, the latter were granted a berth at France ’38.
Indonesia had done remarkably well for a country with as relatively little recent footballing pedigree as theirs at the 1986 Asian Games football tournament, where they’d not just advanced past the group stage, but then knocked United Arab Emirates out in the quarter-finals. They had subsequently bowed out to South Korea, but reaching the semi-finals stage had been a great feat.
In September 1987, they went on to win the South East Asian Games football tournament on home soil, beating Malaysia 1-0 in the final. This was their first ever such title, and that must have raised their hopes for the 1988 Asian Cup, although they would fail to qualify for the competition proper in Qatar. So after that set-back, 1989 brought World Cup qualification, although in a four nations group along with North Korea, Japan and Hong Kong, the Indonesians were hardly favourites to progress through to the final stage of the AFC qualification.
Head coach was Nirwan Demawran Bakrie, taking over from Bertje Matulapelwa and Soviet coach Anatoliy Polosin.
They played these three friendlies prior to the start of the qualification:
30/1-89: Thailand 3-0 Indonesia
3/2-89: Malaysia 3-1 Indonesia (in Thailand)
13/5-89: Singapore 1-2 Indonesia
World Cup Qualification
Match 1
21/5-89: Indonesia 0-0 North Korea
Line-up: Harto – Hamdani, Kiswanto, Darwis, Hartono – Wijaya, Nere, Mustamu, Suryaman (Susanto 83), Mustaqim – Yacobi
Match 2
28/5-89: Indonesia 0-0 Japan
Line-up (4-5-1): Harto – Hamdani, Kiswanto, Darwis, Hartono – Wijaya, Nere, Mustamu, Suryaman, Mustaqim (Riyadi 61) – Yacobi
Match 3
4/6-89: Hong Kong 1-1 Indonesia
Goal: Mustamu 67
Line-up (4-5-1): Harto – Hamdani, Kiswanto, Darwis, Hartono – Wijaya, Nere (Rangkuti 36), Mustamu, Suryaman, Mustaqim – Yacobi (Riyadi 88)
Match 4
11/6-89: Japan 5-0 Indonesia
Line-up (4-5-1): Harto – Hamdani, Kiswanto, Darwis, Hartono – Wijaya, Rangkuti, Mustamu, Suryaman (Susanti 73), Yacobi – Riyadi (Mustaqim 26)
Match 5
25/6-89: Indonesia 3-2 Hong Kong
Goals: Mustaqim 60, Kiswanto 74 (pen.), 89 (pen.)
Line-up: Yasa – Tambunan, Kiswanto, Darwis, Hartono – Wijaya, Susanto (Nere 20), Mustamu, Hanafing (Riyadi 86), Mustaqim – Lolombulan
Manager Nirwan Bakrie had rung the changes following the big loss in Tokyo two weeks earlier, and it was certainly no surprise that goalkeeper Hartono, who could be said to have been at fault for three of Japan’s goals, had been replaced. Five men made their first starting appearances of this qualification campaign, with only midfielder Susanto having previously come on as a sub. There was no Hamdani, Suryaman or Yacobi, who had started their four qualifiers until then. They came from behind thanks to two penalty conversions by libero Kiswanto to seal their first and only win of this qualification campaign.
Match 6
9/7-89: North Korea 2-1 Indonesia
Goal: Lolombulan 73
Line-up: Yasa – Tambunan (Suryaman 56), Kiswanto, Darwis, Hartono – Wijaya, Nere, Mustamu (Muli 67), Pribadi, Mustaqim – Lolombulan
This was the final match of the 12 in this qualification group, and the Japanese would’ve been hoping for a miracle from the Indonesians, as an away win by the margin of two goals or more would’ve seen Japan top the group to progress through to the next qualification phase. An away win would also have meant that three teams had finished on seven points, though with Indonesia as the team with an inferior goal difference to the other two. A draw would’ve sufficed for North Korea, who ultimately went on to win, with Indonesia getting a goal back 17 minutes from time to exit with a ‘honourable’ defeat. Energetic midfield man Nere was back in the team for the first time since trotting off before half time at Hong Kong.
Conclusion
Having started their qualification campaign with 0-0 home draws against North Korea and Japan, Indonesia had shown that they were capable of holding their own against teams which had most likely been expected to finish above them. They were then held to a 1-1 draw in Hong Kong in an open and entertaining match, but the following week they received a reality check as they were given a proper hiding in Japan. Up until that point, team manager Bakrie had been using pretty much the same eleven from one game to the next, but he would axe a number of players and bring in five new starters for the home fixture against Hong Kong, where two penalties from libero Kiswanto made sure they won their only qualifier in six attempts.
Until their final qualifier, Indonesia were still in the hunt for finishing on an equal points tally as the group’s winning nation, as an unlikely away win in Pyongyang would’ve meant that both them, the North Koreans and Japan all would’ve ended on seven points from six qualifiers. The 5-0 loss in Tokyo had meant that Indonesia’s goal difference of minus four prior to the journey to North Korea meant they were not serious contenders of surpassing the other two in the table, but a win by a two goal margin, still highly unlikely, would have meant that Japan had won the group on goal difference ahead of North Korea.
Final table:
1. North Korea 6 4 1 1 11-5 9
2. Japan 6 2 3 1 7-3 7
3. Indonesia 6 1 3 2 5-10 5
4. Hong Kong 6 0 3 3 5-10 3