Indonesia Defeats Mozambique, Erick States That a Team's Quality Does Not Always Depend on FIFA Rankings.

Indonesia National Team closed the June FIFA Match Day window with a perfect record after defeating Mozambique 1-0 at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium (SUGBK), Jakarta on Tuesday. This victory completed a successful run for Garuda, who had secured a convincing 3-0 win over Oman four days prior.

Despite taking the win, the fixture against Mozambique was far from straightforward. Before kickoff, Indonesia was considered to have better odds for an easy victory compared to their match against Oman. In reality however, the African side put up intense, unyielding resistance across the full 90 minutes.

General Chairman of PSSI Erick Thohir stated that this match proved that a team's quality cannot be measured solely by their position in the FIFA Rankings.

"The boys performed well. How many times did we hit the post that match? Twice. But Mozambique also struck the woodwork too. This was an open end-to-end game with both sides constantly adjusting their tactics. It was a very hard-fought, physical match," stated Erick at SUGBK on Tuesday.

Mozambique did arrive in Jakarta holding a lower FIFA Ranking than Oman. But on the pitch, they troubled John Herdman's squad with aggressive play and repeated dangerous attacking chances.

According to Erick, there are many determining factors for match results beyond global ranking, ranging from coaching strategy to individual player fitness levels on match day.

"Every coach implements their own game plan, player fitness varies, anything can happen. Alhamdulillah we were able to collect all three points today," Erick added.

The victories over Oman and Mozambique have delivered a positive impact to Indonesia's FIFA ranking position. Based on live FIFA ranking data as of 02.00 WIB Wednesday, Garuda climbed four positions to 118th place globally, holding a total of 1157.14 ranking points.

Conversely, Mozambique suffered a ranking drop after suffering back-to-back defeats during this June FIFA Match Day. Following their 4-1 loss to Oman and 0-1 defeat against Indonesia, they fell two places to 103rd in the world with 1218.62 points.

Climbing the global rankings is listed as one of PSSI's short term targets as the federation works to raise Indonesia's international Football standing. Erick expressed hope that the positive momentum currently being built by the national team can continue, with the goal of bringing Indonesia close to the world top 100 ranks.

"Hopefully we can keep this on track with our future targets, to get near that top 100 mark. We can only hope," he remarked.

The positive results from this FIFA Match Day also demonstrate the development of the Garuda Squad under John Herdman's leadership. Alongside registering consecutive victories, Indonesia has proven their ability to compete against opponents ranked higher than themselves.