Former Newcastle and Barcelona star, 48, lands first manager job in a year with international team
PATRICK KLUIVERT has been named Indonesia manager after a year away from the touchline.
The Barcelona and Newcastle legend, 48, most-recently managed Adana Demirspor in Turkey – but lasted just five months before being axed in December 2023.
Kluivert, a 79-cap and 40-goal Holland international, hasn’t quite replicated his glittering playing career as a manager.
Nonetheless, Indonesian football chief Erick Thohir has announcing the shock sacking of successful and popular former head coach Shin Tae-Yong on Monday.
Thohir – who was once Inter Milan owner – said: “We see the need for a leader who is better able to implement the strategies agreed upon by the players, and who has better communication.
“Correspondence regarding the end of our relationship has been received [by Shin] and I would like to express my gratitude.
“We have also found a replacement, who will arrive on the 11th [of January]. A news conference will be held on the 12th.”
Fabrizio Romano reports Kluivert has signed a two-year contract – with the option for two further years – to replace Shin.
The surprise move comes as Indonesia chase a first-ever World Cup appearance in 2026.
The nation – who sit 127th in the Fifa world rankings – have never featured at the tournament, but are well in the hunt after a successful start to qualifying.
FOOTBALL FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS
Indonesia sit third in the six-team Group C in the Asian qualifiers – behind only Australia and Japan, ahead of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and China.
So the Indonesian football chiefs’ decision to axe Shin and replace him with largely inexperienced boss Kluivert has come as a surprise.
Following a stellar playing career with Holland, Ajax, AC Milan, Newcastle, Barcelona, Valencia, PSV and Lille, Kluivert – whose son, Patrick, plays for Bournemouth and the Dutch national team – retired in 2008, before going into coaching.
He started off as assistant at Dutch club AZ, before serving as No2 at Australian side Brisbane Roar under now-Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou and NEC, back in Holland.
He spent a year in charge of Twente’s youth side, before serving as Louis van Gaal‘s assistant with Holland – where he would help the nation finish third at the 2014 World Cup.
Kluivert’s first attempt as a head coach came with minnows Curacao in 2015 – but he resigned after just six months despite leading the nation to their best-ever World Cup qualifying campaign.
He returned for two Caribbean Cup qualifying matches in 2016, before heading back to Ajax to serve as Under-19s head coach.
The former striker continued to lead Curacao alongside his Dutch duties but quit both after being given an offer he couldn’t refuse to work as director at Paris Saint-Germain.
Since then, Kluivert has briefly returned to the touchline, with short spells as Cameroon assistant to Clarence Seedorf (2018-19), Curacao interim boss (2021) and, most-recently, Adana Demirspor (2023).