The reporter reported coldly In the round of 18 in March, in addition to the battle in the sand, Chinese fans paid the most attention to the match between Australia and Indonesia.

Australia are the opponents of the national football team's second match in March, while Indonesia is the main contender for the national football team to qualify. Both teams only officially trained at the end of the league last weekend, and both had a large number of overseas international players flying long distances to Sydney, where the game was played. The difference is that the state and mood of the two teams are very different, the Australian team is affected by injuries in the midfield and backfield, and coach Popovich is in trouble; Indonesia has naturalized 3 internationals, plus it is Kluivert's debut, and the team's morale is high.

At the moment, Popovich is worried about the absence of six permanent players, and he has also been questioned by the media and fans due to the different selection criteria, and needs to be explained.

First of all, after being injured in the round of 18 last November, why did striker Yeon-gi (pictured), who only played 29 minutes at the club, be selected? Popovich said he had visited the South Sudanese striker in London a few weeks ago and thought he was fully recovered. As for the missing Duke, Berdych, who is currently the top scorer in the AFL this season, and Ilankunda, who has been a regular in the Swiss Super League with the Zurich Grasshoppers, Popovich believes that their styles are different from Yanki, who can bring different changes to the attacking end.

Cahill was a big supporter of Popovich and praised him for recruiting as many as 10 AFL players, "I played with Popovich, he was very professional, he was a great coach and he had good results. Cahill believes Popovich can bring out the best in Australia, and as for who can play as a centre-forward, Cahill has no answer. In his opinion, the older Tagart has a lot of experience, but Yanji has been fully trained in the English high-level league.

The biggest impact of injuries in Australia is in the midfield, with Fox Sports believing that the experienced Degenek and Burgess and Rolls of the six centre-backs are likely to start, with Besich and Miller being the first choice at full-back, but Grant and Francecic are equally experienced in Popovich's selection. In midfield, Owen and O'Neill can form a back two, while Triantis, who plays for the Scottish Super League, has been outstanding for the club despite his youth. As for the attacking end, Boyle and Goodwin are better suited to the role of in-cutting wingers. Australian media say it may not be the Kangaroos' strongest squad, but the Indonesian is likely to pay the price away from home for relying too heavily on naturalised players.

On 15 March, Kluivert unveiled the 14-man squad for the coaching staff and the 27-man squad for Australia. In addition to the team manager Sumaj, only assistant coach Faisal and team doctor Asghar are Indonesian. In addition, the strength and conditioning coach Jacoba is from Curacao in the Caribbean, and the other four assistant coaches, as well as the physiotherapists (2) and analysts (3) are Dutch. With such a large coaching team, it can be seen that the Indonesian Football Association attaches great importance to the national team.

In terms of players, naturalised striker Olamangunn (Dedendel, Liga) and centre-back Habna (Wolves, Premier League), who have accumulated yellow cards and suspended, are absent, while midfielder Vikri who plays for Indonesia's Super League Deva United is missing out due to injury. Kluivert had to eliminate four more players to select a 23-man squad. Local goalkeepers Agawinata (Borneo) and Sutayadi (Surabaya) will choose one of the two, and the other three are likely to be made in defenders Patinama (Auburn, Bi B), Arhan (Bangkok United, Thai Super League), Ferrari (Jakarta), midfielder Zhou Yaan (Swansea, Championship), local striker Karaka (PSS Sleman) and Bagascala (Deva United). In the 23-man roster of the Indonesian team, there may be as many as 16 naturalized players, while 18 foreign players are retained.

On March 16, the local international players left for Sydney, and the foreign players had to arrive at least one day late, and the whole team could only have their first training on the 17th, and the whole team had only one day of tactical training.

It is worth mentioning that in order to "cope" with Ramadan, Kluivert has developed a special nutrition regimen to ensure that the players are fully fit. The match against Australia kicks off at 20:10 p.m. local time on 20 March, and the sunset time is around 7 p.m., meaning that the Indonesian players can eat and refuel before the game, which is good news for them.