He Took Indonesia From 173rd to 127th. Then They Fired Him

When Shin Tae-yong took charge of Indonesia, they were 173rd in the FIFA World Ranking. When he left, five years later, they were 127th. Under Shin, Indonesia reached the Asian Cup knockout stage for the first time, knocked South Korea out of the U-23 Asian Cup, reached the third round of Asian World Cup qualifying for the first time — and beat Saudi Arabia 2–0. Forty-eight days later, on 6 January 2025, the federation ended his contract. This is the story of that decision, what happened next under Patrick Kluivert and John Herdman, and why some fans are still chanting his name. Fairness note: Indonesia's federation said it needed "a leadership that implements strategies as agreed with the players, communicates better, and implements better programmes" (Erick Thohir, 6 January 2025, via Reuters and Al Jazeera). The diaspora policy is the federation's; it began during Shin's tenure. Win–loss comparisons between coaches involve very different opponents. Chapters: 00:00 Third in the group, then fired 00:34 The man who beat Germany 01:23 From 173rd 01:56 The new faces 02:36 Firsts 04:03 48 days 04:53 The replacement 05:45 The chant 07:00 The final Sources: FIFA match data and rankings; Reuters; Al Jazeera; ESPN; Antara; Kompas; detik; Tempo; VnExpress; Korea JoongAng Daily; The Guardian; Foreign Policy; The Korea Times; CNN Indonesia. Photos: Wikimedia Commons (credits below). Stock footage: Pexels. Graphics: Goalden Sport. Thumbnails: real photos, AI-upscaled. Group photo of Indonesia national football team.jpg · BPMI Sekretariat Presiden/Muchlis Jr · Public domain Vietnam v Indonesia WCQ 2024 (Indonesia XI).jpg · Timnas Indonesia · CC BY 3.0 Indonesia Training June 2024 - 021.png · Antara TV Indonesia · CC BY 3.0 FC København - Aab, 22. May 2022 - FCK spillerne varmer op.jpg · Thomas Dahlstrøm Nielsen · CC BY-SA 4.0 Indonesia v Philippines WCQ 2024 (Haye, Ridho & Tjoe-A-On).png · Timnas Indonesia · CC BY 3.0 Erick Thohir Official Portrait.png · Indonesian Government · Public domain Erick Thohir (2).jpg · AntaraTV · CC BY 3.0 AFC Asian Cup - Indonesia vs Iraq - 6.jpg · Timnas Indonesia · CC BY 3.0 Shin Tae-yong Indonesia.jpg · Thomas Bungalawan · CC BY 3.0 신태용 (Shin Tae-yong).jpg · SE Asian Football · CC BY-SA 4.0 Patrick Kluivert at Web Summit 2024.jpg · Web Summit · CC BY 2.0 Patrick Kluivert at Web Summit 2024 (cropped).jpg · Web Summit · CC BY 2.0 Asian Games 2018 GBK Stadium 10.jpg · Gunawan Kartapranata · CC BY-SA 4.0 Pertandingan Kualifikasi Piala Dunia 2026 Indonesia VS Brunei Darussalam Di GBK.jpg · Mhmd wiamsyah akbary 15 · CC BY-SA 4.0 John Herdman WC2022.jpg · Hossein Zohrevand · CC BY 4.0 Indonesia v Vietnam WCQ 2024 (Marselino Ferdinan).jpg · Timnas Indonesia · CC BY 3.0 Indonesia-Australia 10 September 2024.jpg · BPMI Setpres / Vico · Public domain FWC 2018 - Group F - KOR v SWE - Shin Tae-yong.jpg · Voltmetro · CC BY-SA 4.0 Shin Tae-yong, who is being interviewed in the Disbanding ceremony at South Korea national football team.jpg · Goryeo (Commons) · CC BY 4.0 2018 World Cup South Korea national football team Farewell Ceremony (1).jpg · Korea.net · KOGL Type 1 Indonesia-Bahrain 25 March 2025 14.jpg · BPMI Setpres / Muchlis Jr · Public domain Indonesia-China 5 June 2025 12.jpg · BPMI Setpres / Muchlis Jr · Public domain Indonesia-China 5 June 2025 14.jpg · BPMI Setpres / Muchlis Jr · Public domain #Indonesia #TimnasIndonesia #ShinTaeYong #Football #Garuda