The Great Withe Hope comes to rescue of Indonesian soccer<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Tiger Cup has yet to wrap up, but the Indonesian soccer
\nteam's high flying run in the group stage in early December has
\nredeemed an otherwise mediocre 2004 campaign, which also saw a
\nleadership crisis at the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI).<\/p>\n
Drawn with host nation Vietnam, along with Singapore, Laos and
\nCambodia; Indonesia, under the guidance of Englishman Peter
\nWithe, finished atop Group A with three wins and a draw, scoring
\n17 goals and allowing exactly zero goals!<\/p>\n
After 6-0 and 8-0 maulings of Laos and Cambodia, respectively,
\nwhich had been expected, a 3-0 win over Vietnam surprised many.<\/p>\n
That win left Vietnam out of the semifinals, leaving
\nSingapore, which held Indonesia to a 0-0 draw, as the number two
\nteam in the group.<\/p>\n
Group B, which was played in Kuala Lumpur, ended with
\nunheralded Myanmar and Malaysia going through, much to the
\nchagrin of favored Thailand.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is set to play Malaysia and Singapore will take on
\nMyanmar in the home-and-away semifinals, with the first leg
\nscheduled for Dec. 28.<\/p>\n
The Tiger Cup is the biennial premier soccer championship
\namong 11 Southeast Asian nations, which began in 1996.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's impressive march in the Tiger Cup was a far cry
\nfrom their Asian Cup performance in China, but there were a few
\nbright spots seen even then.<\/p>\n
They scored their first win in their third qualification match
\nin the quadrennial tournament when they stunned Qatar 2-1, but
\noverall it turned out to be a disappointing performance by the
\nteam, then being coached by Bulgarian Ivan Kolev.<\/p>\n
The team suffered a crushing 5-0 defeat to China and lost 3-1
\nto Bahrain to finish in third place in their group. Japan
\neventually went on to retain the trophy after defeating China 3-1
\nin the final.<\/p>\n
The failure to advance to the next stage led to the departure
\nof Kolev, who then moved to Myanmar.<\/p>\n
His departure left the coaching job to Withe, who was, at the
\ntime, focused on taking charge of the Under-20 team. He was
\nsnapped up earlier in the year by PSSI after he successfully
\nsteered Thailand to the Tiger Cup championship twice (2000 and
\n2002).<\/p>\n
Although he was officially employed by PSSI in March, it was
\nnot until Kolev's departure in August that Withe assumed control
\nof the national team.<\/p>\n
In their final three matches of their 2006 World Cup Asian
\nqualifying campaign during the first set of group games,
\nIndonesia booked a 3-1 win over Turkmenistan, a 2-2 draw with Sri
\nLanka and 3-1 loss to Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
Overall, Indonesia scored two wins, a draw, and three losses
\nto finish in third in their 4-team group behind unbeatable Saudi
\nArabia and Turkmenistan. Only the Saudis qualified for the next
\nqualifying round to determine the Asian representatives in
\nGermany in 2006.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's under-20 team also had a tough time at the U-20
\nAsian Cup held in Kuala Lumpur in September and October.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's young players lost 1-0 to Qatar, 5-1 to China, and
\n6-2 to Iran.<\/p>\n
However, the tournament saw the rise of the very talented Boas
\nSalossa, who scored two of Indonesia's three goals. The 18-year-
\nold was then called up to the national team for the Tiger Cup and
\nhis remarkable speed down the flanks was one reason they finished
\natop their group.<\/p>\n
In club competition, Indonesia's representatives Persik Kediri
\nand PSM Makassar found the Asian Champions League a bit too hot
\nto handle.<\/p>\n
League champion Persik fell to an ignominious 15-0 defeat to
\neventual runner-up Seongnam Chunma of South Korea to finish in
\nthird place in the four-team Group G, while PSM finished last in
\nGroup F.<\/p>\n
The Tiger Cup aside, Indonesia has been struggling to find a
\nsuccessful formula, since it last won a major soccer competition
\n-- the 1991 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Manila.<\/p>\n
Back in 1986, Indonesia was able to advance to the semifinals
\nof the Asian Games in Korea, a feat that has not been matched
\nsince. Even qualifying for the Asian Games has now become a
\ndistant dream for Indonesian players today.<\/p>\n
In the Southeast Asian region, the team has played second
\nfiddle to Thailand for many years.<\/p>\n
The poor results have been attributed to a complex series of
\nproblems on and off the field.<\/p>\n
On the field, the players had poor skills, weak endurance, a
\nlack of confidence and virtually no team work.<\/p>\n
When Withe first watched a training session for the U-20
\nnational team, the first thing he noted was that Indonesian
\nplayers had a \"poor mentality\".<\/p>\n
He said that the players lacked the confidence to explore
\ntheir individual skills, therefore their talents had not
\ndeveloped at an optimum pace.<\/p>\n
This resulted in poor teamwork and the absence of ideas to win
\nmatches, he added.<\/p>\n
He also said the physical fitness of the players remained at
\ntoo low a level for proper soccer, and implored them to get fit.<\/p>\n
With those tough challenges, Withe indeed has his work cut out
\nfor him if he intends to bring success.<\/p>\n
While Withe has formidable tasks to deal with during his four-
\nyear contract term here, PSSI was overshadowed by leadership
\nproblems.<\/p>\n
PSSI chairman Nurdin Halid, who took the reins in 2003, was
\nrarely able to make time to focus on his duties with him being
\ndetained in police custody for his alleged involvement in
\ncorruption.<\/p>\n
Whoever leads PSSI, he will have to deal with persistent,
\nstressful issues including subpar refereeing and unsportsmanlike
\nconduct on the part of many players, both of which have triggered
\nviolent incidents on the field.<\/p>\n
Clashes flared up between players of Persija Jakarta and
\nPersita Tangerang at the beginning of the season, which led to
\nthe suspension and\/or fine of a number of players.<\/p>\n
Problems of unruly supporters, player transfers and a
\nreluctance on the part of clubs to release their players for the
\nnational team, are among the other issues that still need to be
\ntackled.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the hiring of The Great Withe Hope seems to have
\nmitigated some of the problems, particularly for the players
\nunder his tutelage.<\/p>",
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