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March 26, 2025 | 05:52 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian national team player Kevin Diks has set a new target after securing a victory against Bahrain in the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. He aims to win the game against China with the Garuda squad at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium (SUGBK) in Jakarta on June 5.
Kevin played for 74 minutes in Indonesia's 1-0 victory over Bahrain at the SUGBK, Jakarta on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. "The next match is against China in June. Let's win again," said the FC Copenhagen player, as quoted from Antara.
Kevin is very happy that Indonesia has once again achieved victory in the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualification. The Garuda squad's first victory was against Saudi Arabia at the same stadium last November. At that time, Diks was absent due to injury.
This is Kevin's first match ending in victory after suffering two bitter defeats in the previous matches. In those matches, Indonesia was defeated by Japan 0-4 and Australia 1-5, during which he failed to execute a penalty at the start of the game. ''We finally won this match. I am very happy to get three points today," said the Copenhagen player, who will join Borussia Moenchengladbach next season.
This victory keeps the Garuda squad's dream alive to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. The Indonesian national team has collected nine points and sits in fourth position. With a three-point lead over Bahrain and China in fifth and sixth positions, Indonesia has a good chance to advance to the fourth round to secure the remaining ticket to the 23rd edition of the World Cup.
Meanwhile, PSSI Chair Erick Thohir believes that the Indonesian national team can compete at the world level if the players are willing to work hard. "We can prove that if we are willing to work hard, we can try again. If you remember, when we lost to Japan, we were able to win against (Saudi) Arabia because if we had lost to Saudi Arabia, our dreams would have been unreachable," said Erick.
"Today is proof that our nation can do it, our nation can do it if we are willing to work hard, if we are united. We proved it after we lost to Australia. Hopefully, this will be an important part for us to keep the hope of our dream to reach the World Cup alive," said the man who also serves as the Minister of State-Owned Enterprises.
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