We know Lebanese team's depth, says Indonesian manager<\/p>\n
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesia will play Lebanon in a pre-Olympic U-23 soccer match
\nhere on Saturday, with the hosts saying that they are aware of
\ntheir opponent's depth and have prepared their strategy
\naccordingly.<\/p>\n
\"We know their strength after watching their game in Jordan,\"
\nIndonesian team manager Irawadi D. Hanafi said here on Friday.<\/p>\n
\"But we can't be too detailed in talking about their flaws or
\nwhat we are going to do in tomorrow's game, otherwise they would
\nknow our plan,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Although Irawadi did not elaborate on what the Indonesian
\nsquad was preparing for the Lebanese, assistant coach Bambang
\nNurdiansyah said the team would likely try to speed up the pace
\nof the match.<\/p>\n
\"Of course each team wants to win. I have to assume that they
\nare also coming in with a well-prepared strategy, but we must be
\nconvinced that we are better prepared for the game,\" said
\nIrawadi, adding that his squad also needed the support of the
\npublic.<\/p>\n
Bambang said he wanted to see the team play like it did in a
\nrecent warm-up game against a team comprised of foreigners
\nplaying on clubs in Indonesia's domestic league.<\/p>\n
\"We want the players to repeat their performance against the
\nforeign players,\" Bambang said.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Olympic team, under head coach Mundari Karya,
\ndemonstrated solid teamwork in beating the squad of foreign
\nplayers 4-2 last week.<\/p>\n
\"We are pleased with what they showed us in that match and
\nhope to see a similar display (against the Lebanese),\" Bambang
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Irawadi's Lebanese counterpart, Rashid Nassar, said
\nthat although they did not know much about the Indonesian squad
\nhis players were physically and mentally ready for the hosts.<\/p>\n
\"We are not going to play defensive (football). We have come
\nto win,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The Indonesia-Lebanon fixture will be played over two legs,
\nwith the second leg to be held in Beirut next month. The winner
\nwill advance with 11 other teams to the finals, to be staged in
\n2004.<\/p>\n
The match on Saturday will take place at the Bung Karno
\nStadium in Jakarta at 7 p.m. Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
\nmatch commissioner Mohd. Noor Hj. Abdullah said the match was
\nallowed to take place because Indonesia had been declared safe
\nfrom Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).<\/p>\n
The AFC has rescheduled three other matches for September:
\nHong Kong-Sri Lanka, Chinese Taipei-Singapore and Iraq-Vietnam.<\/p>",
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