Indonesia naturalizes two players at lightning speed

According to CNN Indonesia, Haye and Oratmangoen took oath to become Indonesian citizens at the DKI Jakarta regional office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights on Monday night.

By dawn on Tuesday, the duo of Dutch-born players had become Indonesian citizens. An official in charge of the naturalization stated that the process for Haye and Oratmangoen was "unprecedentedly fast."

Haye arrived in Indonesia around 10 p.m. on Monday, while Oratmangoen arrived in the afternoon of the same day. Both were taken directly to the office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights to take the oath.

However, Haye and Oratmangoen will not be eligible to play in the 2026 World Cup qualifying game against Vietnam on Thursday. The deadline to register players for the game was March 14, Thursday last week.

Haye and Oratmangoen still have the opportunity to play in the second match against Vietnam on March 26.

The Football Association of Indonesia will need to complete final national football federation procedures to transfer the two players from the Netherlands to Indonesia.

Haye, born in 1995, plays for SC Heerenveen in the Dutch national league. This season, Haye has played 25 games and scored three goals. He has previously played for youth teams in the Netherlands, winning the U17 European Championship in 2012.

Oratmangoen, born in 1998, is an attacking midfielder playing for Fortuna Sittard in the Dutch National League.

After two games, Vietnam is currently second in group F with three points, three behind Iraq. Both Indonesia and the Philippines have one point each. In their most recent encounter, Indonesia won 1-0 against Vietnam in the 2023 Asian Cup group stage.