Indonesian National Team footballer Marselino Ferdinan (right) celebrates after scoring a goal against the Saudi Arabian National Team in the Group C match of the third round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in the Asian Zone at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium, Senayan, Jakarta, Tuesday (11/19/2024). ANTARA PHOTO/Rivan Awal Lingga/mrh/Spt.

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Marselino Ferdinan's double strike powered Indonesia to a 2-0 victory against Saudi Arabia in the Group C match of the third round of the Asian zone 2026 World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday (November 19).

Playing at Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) Stadium, Indonesia claimed its first three points in the third qualification round with this historic triumph.

Indonesia has now pocketed six points from six matches in Group C, only three points short of the minimum target set by the Indonesian Football Federation, PSSI, for the squad in the qualifying phase.

In the match against Saudi Arabia, Ferdinan scored goals in the 32nd and 57th minutes. His first goal came from a pass from Ragnar Oratmangoen.

Exploiting a gap in Saudi's defense, Ferdinan struck again to complete his brace.

Since the first minute of the match, Indonesia played with a pressing attack to win the match.

The team, coached by South Korean's Shin Tae-yong, also got several opportunities before finally taking the lead in the 32nd minute through Ferdinan.

After skillfully outmaneuvering several Saudi defenders, Ferdinan slotted the ball into the net. The score of 1-0 lasted until halftime.

After the break, Indonesia continued to press the Saudi Arabian defense and ended up with another goal in the 57th minute.

Starting from a counterattack, Calvin Verdonk escaped on the right side of Indonesia's attack and rolled a pass to Ferdinan, who immediately took the shot but failed on the first attempt and did not waste a rebound, which led to the 2-0 score.

In the 89th minute, Indonesia's Justin Hubner received his second yellow card, and Indonesia had to play with 10 players.

Hubner was punished by the referee for protesting loudly for the yellow card given to Ivar Jenner.

Since then, Indonesia turned to defense mode, where Shayne Pattynama and Muhammad Ferrari were brought by Coach Tae-yong to secure the defense.

The situation lasted until the end of the match. Indonesia, the team ranked 130th in the FIFA ranking, was able to beat Saudi Arabia, which ranked 59th in FIFA, by two goals to nil.

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Translator: Michael Siahaan, Resinta SulistiyandariEditor: Azis Kurmala Copyright © ANTARA 2024