January 13, 2026 | 11:15 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Assistant coach of the Indonesian national team, Cesar Meylan, evaluates the current situation of the Garuda team as similar to that of the Canadian national team before participating in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. He believes Indonesia has the potential to rapidly progress in the coming years.
Meylan recalls that John Herdman took over the Canadian national team when the country was ranked 94th in the FIFA rankings. Under Herdman's leadership, Canada's performance significantly improved, eventually leading them to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, their first appearance after 36 years. During that period, Canada also achieved its highest-ever ranking, at 33rd in the world.
"I'm feeling, I can only say what John mentioned. I'm really excited to come to Indonesia and hopefully support this country going to the World Cup. That's why I came here," Meylan said during a press conference introducing Herdman as the coach of the Indonesian national team at Hotel Mulia, Jakarta, on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, as quoted by Antara.
With the Indonesian national team, Meylan plays a key role in aspects of fitness, strength, and players' physical endurance. He also serves as Herdman's right-hand in laying the foundation for the team's performance. The two continue their strategic partnership, which began with the New Zealand and Canadian women's national teams and the Canadian men's national team and continued with Toronto FC.
Meylan is a renowned sports scientist with an international reputation. He earned his Ph.D. in Strength and Conditioning from AUT University in New Zealand. He is an expert in training load management, injury prevention, recovery, and optimizing the performance of elite-level athletes.
In 2021, he was honored as Sport Scientist of the Year for his contributions to athlete performance development. "I'm very excited to be here and seeing the passion already in this room and the amount of coverage and fans around, the reaction to John's appointment is very exciting," Meylan said.
He hopes that his collaboration with Herdman can lead the Indonesian national team to participate in the 2030 World Cup, which will be the 100th edition of the tournament. "I'm very excited to work with the whole country of Indonesia to go to the World Cup in 2030," said the 45-year-old man.
Meylan also expressed his positive impression since arriving in Indonesia. "Very positive, very welcoming, very supportive to integrate a lot of smiling people and that's a lot of warmth and a lot of support for somebody who comes from across the world to come here. It's been a great first 48 hours for me here," he said. According to him, the atmosphere provides energy and confidence for anyone who comes from another part of the world to work in Indonesia.
Read: John Herdman Unveils Vision for Indonesia National Team
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