Jakarta, June 6 -- Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka praised the Indonesian football team for defeating China in Group C of the Asian zone qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, expressing optimism about the team's next match.

"Today's game was quite good. We must also win the next game. We will emulate today's win in the upcoming match," he noted in a statement received in Jakarta on Friday.

Gibran joined hundreds of residents at a watch party for the decisive match, held at the Surakarta Town Hall in Solo City, Central Java, on Thursday night (June 5).

The vice president, formerly the city's mayor, arrived at the venue unannounced and sat among the crowd, next to Solo Mayor Respati Ardi.

In front of thousands of Indonesian supporter...