Shocking! Indonesia Terminates Trade Agreement With Head Coach Shin Tae-yong

Jan 06, 2025

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Shocking news has been delivered.

Coach Shin Tae-yong, who placed Indonesia in the third qualifying round for the 2026 World Cup in Asia, has been replaced in a surprise move. The Indonesian Football Association announced on its website on the 6th (Korea time) that it has terminated its contract with coach Shin for the national team and the U-23 national team. The association is grateful to coach Shin for his contribution to the development of Indonesian soccer, saying, `Decisions made after evaluation and long-term goals have been made during those years.' I wish you all the best in the future,' he added.

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The recent news from the Italian media Tutosport began. The media reported that `'Eric Tohir, former Inter Milan owner and president of the Indonesian Football Association, wants to qualify for the 2026 World Cup finals' Indonesia no longer seems to be satisfied with Shin Tae-yong's soccer, which focuses on physical strength and speed. He is also considering changes on the bench to make a qualitative leap. The new director could be of European origin, he claimed.

◇photo capture=Indonesia Football Association website

The local area of Indonesia was turned upside down. Coach Shin's position has weakened since the elimination of the 'AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup' by local media outlet Bolanet. Shin told Tohir that he was evaluated (for the performance of the tournament)." Indonesian national team head coach Nova Aryanto said in a media outlet that `there has been no discussion (about changing the coach.' However, Indonesian Sports Minister Ito Ariotejo told Bolanet that "PSSI (Indonesian Football Association) is waiting for a decision." took a delicate position. Local fans wanted Shin Tae-yong to remain in charge, but he was eventually replaced.

Coach Shin agreed to renew his contract with Indonesia in April last year, which will last until 2027. It was based on the performance of advancing to the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 World Cup and advancing to the quarterfinals of the U-23 Asian Cup. In the third qualifying round, he is in third place, contrary to the expectation that he will struggle with top teams such as Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and China.

But the Mitsubishi Cup was the problem.

Coach Shin organized the tournament's squad, which is not subject to FIFA's mandatory transfer rules, mainly for players under the age of 22. It was a stepping stone to find a new face and to strengthen the national team and U-23 team's power. However, the atmosphere inside the association changed when Indonesia beat Myanmar 1-0 in the group stage and then ended up with a 3-3 draw with Laos, which was considered one step lower, and rival Vietnam lost 0-1 and failed to advance to the semifinals. The draw against Laos seems to have hurt Tohir's feelings rather than the defeat against Vietnam, which has the same skills.

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In retrospect, the Indonesian Football Association has interfered with coach Shin's team management since his early days in office. They put a coach who stepped down in an unfaithful manner at the beginning of his term as the chairman of the association's technical committee to differentiate the operation of the national team's standing army, and set an unreasonable goal that did not take into account the situation at the time when he was ranked 173rd in the FIFA rankings. Coach Shin won absolute support from fans by leading Indonesia to the first-ever round of 16 at the Asian Cup and the third Asian qualifying round for the World Cup, and defeating Saudi Arabia at home, but he could not overcome the power of Tohir, who also serves as the president of the Korea Football Association and a key government official.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.