Marselino Ferdinan too good to be out of the Indonesia starting XI, or ...

Since he burst onto the scene as a 17-year-old, Marselino Ferdinan has been heralded as the future of Indonesian football.

He is yet to disappoint.

In the three years since, Marselino has already helped Indonesia win a first Southeast Asian Games men's football gold medal, been named the best young player at the 2022 ASEAN Championship, and spent the past couple of seasons plying his trade in Europe.

All before the age of 21.

But with Indonesia competing in the third round of Asian qualifiers of the FIFA World Cup for the first time ever, and daring to dream of reaching the biggest stage the sport has to offer, Marselino has been a conspicuous absence for much of their campaign.

Prior to Tuesday, he had started just one of their five previous matches in the third round of Asian qualifiers -- a peculiarity given he had been an increasingly-regular feature in the team since winning his first cap almost seven-and-a-half months shy of his 18th birthday.

There has however been an obvious explanation.

With Marselino struggling to earn regular first-team football during his time in Belgium with Deinze, a summer move to England with Championship outfit Oxford United is yet to reverse his fortunes -- with the 20-year-old still awaiting his debut.

A lack of regular action at club level is one of the most valid reasons to warrant non-selection when international duty comes around -- even if Indonesia coach Shin Tae-Yong has been wise enough to keep him at his disposal.

Yet, on Tuesday, he gave a timely reminder of why he is simply too much of a talent to be left out of the Indonesia starting XI.

Fresh off a heavy 4-0 loss to Japan last week, Indonesia desperately needed to breathe life in their Group C campaign -- as they entered their meeting with Saudi Arabia at bottom of the pile but with just three points separating them from second place.

Despite coming up against formidable opposition at Gelora Bung Karno, Indonesia showed no fear from the opening whistle -- especially after playing out a 1-1 draw with the same opposition in their previous meeting -- and came close to scoring on numerous occasions in the opening exchanges.

Marselino had an effort from a tight angle kept out by the woodwork inside the opening minute, before Ragnar Oratmangoen and Rafael Struick had the door shut in their face at the last moment by some desperate defending from good positions.

Nonetheless, there was to be no denying Marselino two minutes after the half-hour mark.

As Oratmangoen broke free down the left before intelligently cutting the ball back to the edge of the box, Marselino showed remarkable poise not to fire a shot away immediately but sell a feint that just bought him an extra second -- before proceeding to dispatch a shot back into the same corner that he had originally shaped to aim for.

The strike sent the tens of thousands gathered into a frenzy although it would turn to delirium in the 57th minute.

As Indonesia cleared their lines from a set-piece situation, Marselino would instigate a counterattack to send Calvin Verdonk hurtling down the right - and the full-back would then do extremely well to charge into the area and force a pass back to find his teammate's follow-up run and complete a prolonged one-two.

Although his initial shot was blocked, the ball fell kindly back into his path and he proceeded to send the cutest of dinks over the advancing Ahmed Al-Kassar to double his and his team's tally.

An iconic star turn deserved an equally memorable celebration and, as he did on the field, Marselino did not disappoint along the Gelora Bung Karno running track.

Storming past the corner flag, Marselino proceeded to casually sit down on a plastic chair usually occupied for a photographer or ball boy -- and then proceeded to just release a deep breath with a nonplussed look on his face.

While being just chill, Marselino would send chills down the spines all throughout Indonesia, who did not have to wait much longer to celebrate a 2-0 victory that will be remembered for years to come.

Not that Shin didn't already know, but Tuesday's display was a perfectly-timed reminder that Marselino is far too good to be left out of his Indonesia starting XI.

In order for that to be guaranteed, those around him will also have to realise he is also far too good to be stagnating at Oxford -- with regular first-team football needing to be a priority if he is to continue rising towards reaching his full potential.