Semifinalists vow to fight to end<\/p>\n
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Persija, Persebaya, PSM and PSMS, are bracing themselves for
\ntough games in their Indonesian League semifinals here at the
\nBung Karno Stadium on Thursday, with their eyes set on the
\nSunday's final.<\/p>\n
The 1999 runner-up, Persebaya, will take to the ground without
\nits key player Agung Setiabudi, who was suspended after
\ncollecting two bookable offenses in their quarterfinal trip to
\nMedan.<\/p>\n
However, Rudy Keltjes, the team's coach, said that he would be
\nable to cover the area by an equally good substitute in Hartono.<\/p>\n
"It's no problem. I'm not the sort of a man who cries over a
\nplayer being unable to don his boots," Rudy told reporters after
\na technical meeting at the office of the Indonesian Soccer
\nAssociation (PSSI) on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Agung, who used to be a regular national team member, plays a
\nkey role in the team, his speedy sweep from the flank frequently
\nposing danger to opponents.<\/p>\n
Rudy said he would not be preoccupied with a man-to-man
\nmarking strategy, in response to questions whether he had ordered
\none of his players to keep close to Persija's international
\nstriker Bambang Pamungkas.<\/p>\n
"We will not play such a strategy. Suppose Bambang is marked
\nbut the others are not, that's nonsense," he said, adding that
\nthe other team members were ready for the fight.<\/p>\n
The organizers will distribute as many as 72,000 tickets, far
\nbelow the stadium's capacity of 100,000, which they said should
\nallow for "leakage".<\/p>\n
Persija is looking to avoid its bitter experience last season,
\nin which, despite its star-studded team, it stopped short of
\nreaching the peak.<\/p>\n
Qualifying for the semifinals as group winner, Persija may be
\nin a high-flying mood to carry on with the job it started in
\nMakassar, where it took the big scalp of PSM in the process.<\/p>\n
Although there is uncertainty about striker Widodo C. Putro
\nand midfielder Khair Rifo due to injuries, the team said that
\nwould pose few problems.<\/p>\n
"Without Widodo, we still have three good players in front. We
\nalso have a good cover for Rifo," Ahmadi Ahmad, the team's
\nmanager, said.<\/p>\n
PSM Makassar is looking to become the first team to win a
\nback-to-back championship.<\/p>\n
"We may finish as runners-up in the Western Group matches, but
\nwe are by no means second to PSMS, not to any other teams," Kadir
\nHalid, the team's manager, said.<\/p>\n
"And we are going out with a mind-set that we must win the
\ntrophy twice consecutively," he said.<\/p>\n
The team wants to prove that its victory at the Ho Chi Minh
\nCup last month was not a fluke. It is also eager to prove that
\nits defeat to Persija at their home ground was a mere slip-up.<\/p>\n
PSMS, meanwhile, refused to be overawed by its foe, with coach
\nSuimin Sudirja saying that although the majority of his proteges
\nhad no experience of playing on the Senayan turf, they were
\npoised to deliver their typically bold performance.<\/p>\n
Suimin called it a day. "This time around it is our turn (to
\nemerge as champions)," he said.<\/p>\n
He recalled the mid-1980s, during which PSMS ruled the roost
\nin a league that played according to an old format.<\/p>\n
Since the inception of the new format in 1994, PSMS has
\nprogressed no further than the semifinals.<\/p>",
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