New Indonesia coach John Herdman eager to experience Southeast Asian passion in July tournament debut.
NEW Indonesia head coach John Herdman is eagerly anticipating his first ASEAN Hyundai Cup experience as he embarks on an ambitious mission to elevate the football-mad nation to regional supremacy and ultimately World Cup qualification.
The 50-year-old Englishman, who replaced Patrick Kluivert in January after steering Canada to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, will lead Indonesia into Group A action in July and August against defending champions Vietnam, four-time winners Singapore, Cambodia, and either Timor-Leste or Brunei.
Southeast Asian Rivalries ‘On Steroids’
Herdman, who previously experienced the intensity of CONCACAF’s Gold Cup during his tenure with Canada, is bracing himself for the unique atmosphere of ASEAN’s premier football competition.
“I’m really excited about the Hyundai Cup because, having lived the Gold Cup in CONCACAF, it just has a different feel,” said Herdman.
“The players you work with are so hungry. Typically these are the guys who are making way for the European players, the ones in Serie A and the Bundesliga, but this is their chance and if you harness that, there’s a real connection to each other and the fans and the tournament.”
The Newcastle native drew on his own experience of fierce local derbies to contextualize what awaits him in Southeast Asia.
“That’s the one I’m really excited for this year. I’m desperate to experience the Southeast Asian passion. Coming from Newcastle, all I can relate to is the Sunderland-Newcastle derby and apparently here the rivalries are on steroids!” he exclaimed.
Indonesia’s Path Through Group A
Indonesia, six-time runners-up in the competition since its 1996 inception, will launch their campaign at home against Cambodia on July 31. Four days later, they face either Timor-Leste or Brunei before hosting defending champions Vietnam on August 3.
The group stage concludes with a trip to Singapore on August 7, with the top two teams advancing to the semi-finals of the 30th-anniversary tournament.
Busy Year Building Toward Asian Cup
The Hyundai Cup represents just one milestone in a hectic 2026 for Indonesia. The nation will host the FIFA Series in March, play friendlies in June, compete at the Asian Games in Japan following the Hyundai Cup, before fine-tuning preparations for the AFC Asian Cup finals in Saudi Arabia next January.
Herdman welcomes the demanding schedule as an opportunity for continuous improvement.
“Players and staff want to be in that rhythm, this is what AFC and FIFA have achieved at international level,” he explained. “There’s just no rest for any country now, which is good because it means progression, progression, progression.”
“In the past, you may have to miss windows because you couldn’t afford it or you couldn’t get a proper opponent. This is the exciting thing. All roads are building towards the Asian Cup, so these are all stepping stones and I’m hoping in the Hyundai Cup I can test the depth and see which players, maybe some young players will accelerate and springboard through that tournament.”
Proven Track Record in Team Building
Herdman brings extensive experience in transformational leadership, having achieved success with New Zealand’s women’s team before moving to Canada. He guided the Canadian women to Olympic bronze medals in both 2012 and 2016, then made history by leading the men’s team to the 2022 FIFA World Cup—ending a 36-year drought.
That achievement caught the attention of Indonesia Football Association (PSSI) president Erick Thohir, who appointed Herdman after the Timnas fell short of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
“Projects are important,” Herdman reflected. “A real project that can ignite your passion. You can stop a country when you qualify a country for the World Cup for the first time in 36 years, and it’s not even a football country. You know those memories can’t be bought and there’s no price in football that can pay for that.”
“To think you can do that with 280 million people in a country, it’s special. It’s a gift. This is what I enjoy; transformational leadership and hopefully we can take an underdog somewhere it’s not been before.”
Visionary Leadership and World Cup Mission
Working under Thohir—who also serves as Indonesia’s minister of youth and sports and previously owned Serie A club Inter Milan—gives Herdman confidence that the infrastructure exists to achieve unprecedented success.
“We have a talent base that has grown, you can see the qualitative advantages are starting to increase but also you have a president in Erick Thohir who is a visionary and who really wants to take his country to the next level,” Herdman said.
“You absolutely need that visionary. And underneath that you’ve got the passion of the fans, so you’re not fighting against anything. You’ve actually got the wind behind your sails.”
While acknowledging the double-edged sword of massive expectations from Indonesia’s passionate fanbase, Herdman is determined to build sustainable success.
“That can be a gift and a curse. It can be a curse because there’s so much expectation and we haven’t earned the right to have that expectation yet,” he admitted. “But I think we’re on the cusp of doing something where we can build belief, some respect in who we are as a nation and then build a real expectation of qualifying for a World Cup. That’s the mission over a four-year period.”
The Sun Malaysia
