Sawt Falasteen - Kluivert out as coach after Indonesia fail to reach World Cup

Indonesia's hopes of qualifying for the tournament in North America next year ended with defeats to Iraq and Saudi Arabia in the past week.

The 49-year-old Netherlands and Barcelona great, who was only appointed in January, was in charge for just eight matches.

He won three of his games in charge, losing four and drawing one.

Writing on Instagram, Kluivert called it "an unforgettable journey".

He added: "Even though I'm deeply disappointed and sorry for the fact that we didn't make it to the World Cup, I'll always be proud of what we built together."

The Dutchman took over following the controversial sacking of South Korean Shin Tae-yong.

The former striker signed a two-year contract at the start of the year, tasked with taking Indonesia to their first World Cup since gaining independence in 1945.

The Football Association of Indonesia, PSSI, said Kluivert's departure was "through mutual termination".

"This step was taken as part of a comprehensive evaluation of the national football coaching and development programme," it added.

The statement did not name Kluivert's successor.

Amsterdam-born Kluivert retired as a player in 2008 after a stellar career that started at Ajax, where he won the Champions League, before moves to AC Milan and Barcelona.

Kluivert's managerial career has not been nearly as spectacular.

His previous coaching role was in charge of Adana Demirspor in Turkey for five months in 2023.

Before that he was caretaker manager of Curacao in 2021.

He was also number two to Louis van Gaal with the Dutch national side in 2012-2014.

L.Hussein--SF-PST