Debutant Maarten Paes goes from villain to saviour on famous evening for Indonesia

As he made his international bow as part of an underdog outfit in the daunting cauldron that is Jeddah's 62,345-capacity King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Maarten Paes would have been fearing the worst as the Asian qualifier for the 2026 FIFA World Cup between Saudi Arabia and Indonesia approached its climax.

With 13 minutes remaining in Thursday's Group C tie and the scores tied at 1-1, there appeared to be little danger as Paes -- who was only cleared to represent Indonesia a fortnight after representing Netherlands at age-group level -- received a backpass inside his own area and began to assess the options ahead of him.

Failing to see anything he immediately fancied, he held on to possession for a while longer -- and that is when calamity ensued for the FC Dallas goalkeeper.

In a blink of an eye, Saudi Arabia striker Firas Al-Buraikan had not only closed him down but made full use of his lanky frame to nip in and win possession.

With a half-reflex, half-desperate attempt, Paes swung out a leg of his own only to hack Al-Buraikan down and concede a penalty.

In his debut for Indonesia, who he qualified to play for through his grandmother, the 26-year-old appeared destined to play the role of villain -- the culprit behind an inevitable defeat against far more illustrious opposition on an evening that had started promisingly for the plucky Indonesians.

For Indonesia, sitting 133rd on the world rankings and 77 places below Saudi Arabia, were never expected to get anything out of Thursday's contest and yet, remarkably, found themselves ahead after 19 minutes when Ragnar Oratmangoen 's speculative effort ricocheted off teammate Sandy Walsh before finding the back of the net.

Somehow, Indonesia were leading -- away to Saudi Arabia, who famously pulled off a 2-1 win over eventual champions Argentina at the last World Cup.

The hosts were always going to issue a response yet, even when they did equalise just before halftime with a deflected strike of their own via Musab Al-Juwayr , Indonesia were still on course for a memorable draw.

The fact that it seemed as though it was going to be an individual error, rather than a moment of quality from the opponents, that would snatch the result from their grasp would have made for a bitter pill to swallow.

An individual error from a foreign-born player with excellent credentials, who Indonesian fans would have imagined would be coming into the team to help win games rather than lose them.

Paes, however, had other ideas.

Stepping up to take the penalty Paes had conceded was Saudi Arabia's talismanic captain Salem Al-Dawsari , the continent's Player of the Year in 2022 who had scored in that stunning triumph over Argentina.

Up till that point, Al-Dawsari had been the Green Falcons' best player and was the one who initially sparked them when they had fallen behind.

If there was anyone who was going to handle the pressure, it would be the Al Hilal man.

But in spite of Al-Dawsari's stuttering run-up, with a brief but deliberate pause that usually does the trick with most goalkeepers, Paes refused to commit.

He stood tall -- almost as if he was welcoming the mind games -- and, ultimately, would be the one to produce the clutch moment as he eventually threw his body to the left to make the save when Al-Dawsari had finally decided to fire a shot away.

Having gone from villain to hero, Paes would then elevate himself to saviour status with another brilliant stop in injury-time to deny Al-Buraikan one-on-one as Indonesia, in the end, did come away with a draw that will live long in the memory.

And despite the desperate manner in which they achieved it, Indonesia were arguably good value for the result.

Although Saudi Arabia enjoyed the upper hand in possession, the visitors were largely well organised throughout the 90 minutes and also offered a threat of their own.

Even deep into injury-time, they still looked to break forward in search of a winner of their own which, in hindsight, might have been rather rash and naïve given how big a result a draw already was.

Among the recent additions to Indonesia's ranks, Jay Idzes -- handed the captain's armband in only his fourth cap -- was a monumental presence marshalling the defence, while the likes of Oratmangoen and Nathan Tjoe-A-On ran themselves into the ground.

Still, as he singlehandedly reversed his own fortunes through sheer nerves of steel, the night -- one that Indonesian football will cherish for quite some time -- definitely belonged to one man: the villain-turned-saviour Paes.