Indonesia coach John Herdman will have a full squad available when his side take on Timor-Leste in Group A of the ASEAN Hyundai Cup™ 2026 in Chonburi on Friday with the six-times runners-up looking to follow up their opening win over Cambodia with another victory.
Mitch Baker scored a hat-trick on his international debut to power the Indonesians to a comprehensive 5-1 win over the Cambodians in Bogor on Monday, but the Englishman sounded a cautionary note ahead of the clash with the Zé Pedro-coached side.
“Our preparations have gone well,” said Herdman. “All the players came through the opening match without any injuries, which is always positive, so I have a full group from which to select.
“We are excited about the match, although we know it will be a tricky game for us. It was a long journey to come and play here, while Timor-Leste have already played two matches. They are battle-hardened and have settled into the rhythm of the competition.”
Timor-Leste, who booked their place in the group phase via the play-offs, suffered a heavy 7-0 loss in their opening Group A match against Vietnam before showing a significant improvement in their 2-0 defeat against Singapore on Monday.
That progress was recognised by Herdman as the former Canada boss acknowledged his team cannot afford to be complacent despite expectations that Indonesia will secure a comfortable win over their neighbours.
“Every match is different,” he said. “Timor-Leste are developing as the tournament progresses, and I thought their performance in their previous match was very strong.
“They are beginning to understand the tempo and rhythm of the competition, so I expect to face an improved team. After playing two matches together, players understand the tactics and their teammates better by the third game. We therefore cannot underestimate Timor-Leste.
“This is not about scoring as many goals as possible. It is about securing three points. This is tournament football, and our focus is on producing the best version of ourselves and improving on our previous performance.”
Baker’s goal-scoring performance captured the headlines in Indonesia’s tournament opener, but Zé Pedro was quick to note that Herdman’s side possess additional threats beyond the 19-year-old striker.
“We are expecting another difficult match because we will be facing a very strong team,” he said. “Indonesia recorded a convincing victory against Cambodia in their previous game. They are well organised and will naturally be determined to win again.
“However, we have to focus on what we came here to do. We will try to give our best, remain organised, compact and focused and hopefully provide a strong response tomorrow.
“We cannot focus only on one player, even though Mitchell Baker scored three goals in the previous match. After analysing Indonesia’s performance, we saw that they work extremely hard as a group and are very strong collectively.
“They are particularly dynamic in attack, which can create confusion and make them very difficult to defend against.
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