<figure id="attachment_3255759" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3255759" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-3255759" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/b14ab579-john-herdman-football-indonesia-epa-13_01_26.webp" alt="" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3255759" class="wp-caption-text">New Indonesia coach John Herdman said the football-mad country deserve to see their team &#8220;winning on the world stage&#8221;. (EPA Images pic)</figcaption></figure>
JAKARTA: New Indonesia coach John Herdman on Tuesday targeted qualification for the 2030 World Cup, warning there were no more excuses.
&#8220;This is going to be an exciting project,&#8221; the 50-year-old Englishman told reporters in the capital Jakarta at his first press conference as Indonesia team boss.
Fans of the football-mad country deserve to see their team &#8220;winning on the world stage&#8221;, said Herdman.
&#8220;I will bring my passion&#8230; to help bring this country to, hopefully, a place it&#8217;s never been before. It&#8217;s time.&#8221;
Herdman said Indonesia &#8220;is ready, it has no more excuses&#8221;.
The former Canada coach comes in following the departure of Barcelona and Dutch great Patrick Kluivert.
Kluivert left the Indonesia job after failing to get them to this year&#8217;s World Cup.
Indonesia have been to the World Cup once, in 1938, when they were under Dutch colonial rule.
The Indonesian football association, PSSI, has hailed Herdman&#8217;s appointment as &#8220;the beginning of a new era&#8221;.
Herdman guided Canada&#8217;s men to the 2022 World Cup, their first appearance in 36 years.
He took Canada&#8217;s women to the quarter-finals of the 2015 World Cup hosted by the country.
In Indonesia, a country of more than 280 million, &#8220;80-90 percent of people are football mad&#8221;, said Herdman.
&#8220;They love their football. This is the place to be.&#8221;

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