KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian football fans can only watch with envy as neighbours Indonesia moved closer to their World Cup dream this week.
The Southeast Asian nation now have a real chance of making it to the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, if they succeed in the next round of qualifying.
The whole of Indonesia erupted into raptures after the Garuda stunned China 1-0 at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium on Thursday. Oxford United striker Ole Romeny scored the winner, albeit a controversial penalty, in the 45th minute.
The win leaves Indonesia in fourth spot in Group C — with 12 points with one game remaining — and into the next round of qualifying which could see them appearing in their first World Cup since gaining independence as a country in 1945.
The Indonesia team felt they could pull it off, and on the eve of the match, their coach, Patrick Kluivert said he was "very confident" his team would get a positive result against China.
In comparison, Malaysia, who used to be the better of Indonesia from the 1970s-1980s, always fell in the first or second round of World Cup qualifying. Indonesia are currently ranked world No. 123 while Malaysia are 132.
