Herdman: Bring the Family to Unite with Indonesian Football

Viralterkini.idJakarta — Indonesian National Team coach, John Herdman, revealed the personal and professional reasons behind his decision to bring his wife and children to Indonesia.

He emphasized that this step was part of his efforts to deepen the culture and character of Indonesian society so that it could be translated into the playing identity of the Garuda squad in the future.

John Herdman was officially introduced to the public as the new head coach of the Indonesian National Team by PSSI at an event held at the Mulia Hotel, Senayan, Central Jakarta, Tuesday (13/1/2026).

This introduction marked the beginning of his official duties after previously being announced as the new coach of the Indonesian National Team on January 3 2026.

The introductory event was attended by a number of PSSI officials, including PSSI General Chair Erick Thohir, Deputy General Chair I Zainudin Amali, Deputy General Chair II Ratu Tisha, Chair of the National Team Agency (BTN) Sumardji, as well as members of the PSSI Executive Committee.

The presence of these administrators confirms the federation’s full support for the medium and long term projects that Herdman will carry out.

On that occasion, the 50 year old British coach spoke at length about his motivation for accepting the offer to coach the Indonesian National Team.

He also explained the reasons why he chose to come with his family, namely his wife, Clare Herdman, and their two children, Lily and Jay.

“I am happy to be able to come to Indonesia with my family. This is a country with a new culture and a new style of football,” said John Herdman to the media.

He also expressed his appreciation to PSSI General Chair Erick Thohir for the trust given to him to lead the Indonesian National Team.

The former Canadian national team coach admitted that his interest in Indonesia emerged when he first saw the opportunity to train the Garuda squad.

According to him, the Indonesian National Team has great potential to develop and it is time to move up to international level.

“When I first saw the opportunity in Indonesia, I was interested because I saw that the people here were worthy of taking their national team to the next level,” said Herdman.

He believes that the player material, including Jay Idzes and his colleagues, has strong capital to compete if handled with the right approach.

Herdman also said that Indonesia is similar to the environment where he grew up in Newcastle, England.

These factors made him feel more challenged and comfortable to start a new project with the Indonesian National Team.

The experience of bringing Canada to qualify for the 2022 World Cup is one of the important provisions that he wants to apply to Indonesia.

“Managing the Indonesian National Team is a big challenge, and I like challenges. From what I see, this project is very right for me,” he said.

He added that the enthusiasm of the supporters and the enthusiasm of the players were the main attraction.
Regarding the work program, Herdman emphasized that he had not only come to train technically.

He wants to understand the culture, social values ​​and character of Indonesian society so that this philosophy can be integrated into the team.

For that reason he chose to bring his family to live with him in Indonesia, as he had done when coaching in other countries.

“The first thing I want to do is get to know the culture. Here the culture is different, the style of football is different, and the social life is also different,” explained Herdman.

He believes cultural understanding is an important foundation for building strong relationships between the national team and its supporters.

Apart from his family, Herdman also came with his assistant trainer, Cesar Meylan, who is known as a reliable physical trainer and has worked with him for a long time.

It is hoped that Meylan’s presence will help improve the overall physical condition of the Indonesian national team players.

Herdman admitted that he had similar experiences when managing the New Zealand and Canadian national teams.

In New Zealand, he studied Maori culture and tried to integrate it into the team’s identity.

While in Canada, he faced the challenge of uniting diverse racial and cultural backgrounds in one national team.

“I have traveled to several countries with my family and staff to study football and its people. That was the starting point for me to connect fans with their own national teams,” said Herdman.

For your information, John Herdman will not only coach the senior Indonesian national team. He is also trusted to handle the Indonesian U-23 National Team, with different targets and focuses in each event.

PSSI hopes that Herdman’s experience and comprehensive approach will be able to take Indonesian football to a higher level in the next few years.