REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Australian national striker Adam Taggart said he was impressed with the progress shown by the Indonesian national team. In his eyes, Garuda's squad continues to improve.

“As a country, of course Indonesia is growing. I was impressed with them the last time we played in his cage. They are obviously a country trying to come after us,” the 31-year-old Perth Glory player told the Socceroos official website on Tuesday (18/3/2025).

Australia will host Indonesia in the seventh match of Group C of the third round of the 2026 Asian Zone World Cup Qualifier. According to him, the competition in Group C is very tight even in the third round in the race for automatic tickets to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

“It's definitely a tight group like that. So, yes, this is an important match for us. However, that's why we want to play football to get these kind of moments. It's a great opportunity for us as a team to assert our position in this group stage and make sure we can try and slowly move away from that group,” Taggart said.

He also hopes his team can get extra strength from the support of the home supporters when it comes to an important match against Indonesia. The Australia vs Indonesia duel will take place at Allianz Stadium in Sydney.

“Playing at home is important. I personally am really looking forward to it. I think it gives you a little extra motivation,” he added.

Currently, Australia are ranked second in Group C with seven points. Indonesia follows in third place with six points.

Indonesia travels to Sydney with a lot of new players. In addition to Ole Romeny, there's Dean James, Joey Pelupessy, and the recently naturalized Emil Audero.

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