The joining of Maarten Paes to the Indonesian national team squad ahead of the third round of the 2026 World Cup in the Asian zone has made China feel anxious.
Since officially becoming an Indonesian citizen on April 30 2024, Maarten Paes has never played for the Indonesian national team in an international match. FIFA had rejected the transfer of the 26 year old player’s association from the Netherlands (KNVB) to Indonesia (PSSI) because the goalkeeper had played for the Dutch U-21 National Team when he was 22 years old.
PSSI then filed an appeal regarding FIFA’s decision. The appeal hearing took place on August 15, and the results were announced on Monday (18/8/2024).
Via his personal Instagram account, PSSI Chairman, Erick Thohir, said that Maarten Paes was legal and could be registered to defend the Garuda Team. With this decision, Paes has the opportunity to defend the Indonesian national team in the third round of Group C qualifying for the 2026 World Cup in the Asian zone.
Unfortunately, Maarten Paes’ debut with the Indonesian National Team had to be postponed. Initially, Paes was planned to be played when the Garuda Squad visited Saudi Arabia’s headquarters in the third round of Group C qualifying for the 2026 World Cup in the Asian zone, 5 September.
He still cannot appear in the Garuda Team uniform from toktoto online because it is hampered by the AFC’s rules. PSSI Exco member, Arya Sinulingga, explained that player registration for the first match of the third round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifications had been closed since August 5.
Meanwhile, Maarten Paes just finished the process of moving the federation from KNVB to PSSI on 18 August.
Even though he has not been able to play for the Indonesian National Team against Saudi Arabia, Maarten Paes can be registered to appear in the next match in Group C. Apart from Saudi Arabia, the Garuda Team will also meet Australia, Bahrain, Japan and China.
Paes’ presence apparently made the Indonesian national team’s opponents in the third round of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup start to worry, one of whom was China. The Bamboo Curtain country’s media, Sohu, highlighted the presence of the Dallas FC goalkeeper.
The Indonesian toktoto online player national team continues its large-scale naturalization process. The 14th player has joined, and all positions have been comprehensively strengthened, so the Chinese national team’s prospects of qualifying are uncertain, as quoted by South Korean media, Khan.co.
Based on the schedule, the Indonesian Toktoto National Team will first visit China’s headquarters, Qingdao Youth Football Stadium, Qingdao, 15 October 2024. After that, the second duel will be the Garuda Team’s turn to host on 5 June 2025.
“China is also continuing to carry out naturalization on a large scale, but it is known that it will maintain its current national team squad for the time being,” said Khan.co.
“Meanwhile, the public is very tense when they hear the news of additional naturalization in the Indonesian National Team.”