Mastrans, PSM may still meet in soccer league final<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Yesterday's draw decided that Indonesia's two
\nrepresentative teams in Asian soccer, PSM Ujungpandang and
\nMastrans Bandung Raya, will not face each other in the semifinals
\nof the national soccer league, leaving open the chance that these
\ntwo top teams will meet in the national league final.<\/p>\n
PSM, a first-round victim in the Asian Champions Cup, will
\nplay Persipura Jayapura in one of tomorrow's semifinals for a
\nplace in Sunday's final. The other semifinal will pit Mastrans, a
\nCup Winners Cup second-round loser, against Mitra Surabaya.<\/p>\n
"I guarantee there were no attempts to engineer the draw.
\nEverything went fairly," said All-Indonesia Football Association
\nSecretary-general Nugraha Besoes who led the draw.<\/p>\n
Rumors spread prior to the draw that the association was keen
\nto split PSM and Mastrans in the semifinals to gain extra income
\nfrom tickets sales. The association's revenue is expected to soar
\nif the two favorites meet in Sunday's final.<\/p>\n
The association and the championships' promoter PT Citra Cipta
\nSports will gain the lion's share of sevenue from tickets sales
\nfor the matches on Friday and Sunday.<\/p>\n
PSM, which made an early exit from the Asian Champions Cup
\nafter losing to South Korea's Pohang Atoms last month, was
\ndisappointed by the draw.<\/p>\n
"We didn't expect to meet Persipura in the semifinals," PSM
\nmanager Mohammad Basri said. Basri's side beat the team from the
\ncountry's easternmost province 1-0 en route to its group win in
\nthe final-12 round of the national championships last week.<\/p>\n
Persipura welcomed the draw cautiously. "We lost to PSM in the
\nround-robin group match but qualified for the semifinals. It's
\ntime for revenge because we can no longer rely on luck,"
\nPersipura manager Tumpak Sihite said.<\/p>\n
Exhaustion<\/p>\n
Mastrans must put its upset Cup Winners Cup departure behind
\nit in tomorrow's semifinal. The Bandung side staged a 45-minute
\nsit-in strike to protest what it said was "unfair refereeing" in
\nits 0-4 defeat to South China in Hong Kong on Sunday. South China
\nmarched into the third round of the cup with a 5-1 aggregate win.<\/p>\n
"We are extremely exhausted after the tiring final-12 round
\nmatches and the Asian tour. But this is no reason to lose
\ntomorrow's match," Mastrans coach Tri Gustoro said.<\/p>\n
The Surabaya club Mitra promised to play its best to emulate
\nEast Java's soccer triumph in the 14th National Games. It also
\nhas the burden of shaping up to East Java's solid record in the
\nnational league.<\/p>\n
Petrokimia Putra of Gresik, East Java, reached the final last
\nyear, but lost 0-1 to Persib Bandung. Both of last year's
\nfinalists were eliminated in this year's final-12 round.<\/p>\n
Mitra's campaign was boosted when East Java Governor Basofi
\nSudirman offered each player Rp 10 million in cash should the
\nteam return home with the coveted President's Cup trophy.<\/p>\n
East Java Deputy Governor Abdul Hamid said Tuesday, in his
\nmessage to the departing Surabaya team, that the bonuses would be
\npaid from Basofi's and the Surabaya mayor's private bank
\naccounts. (amd)<\/p>",
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