AS Roma and Lazio may entertain lokal fans
AS Roma and Lazio may entertain lokal fans
JAKARTA (JP): Soccer fans here are in for a rare treat. Two
Italian League Serie A soccer clubs, AS Roma and Lazio, are
scheduled to lock horns in the Senayan Main Stadium on May 27.
However, the two clubs of Rome may leave their top players at
home for the European championship finals in England (June 8 to
June 30).
But All-Indonesia Football Federation tournament director Dali
Taher said on Wednesday he had been ensured that at least some
top players would be sent here.
Lazio will include 1993 and 1994 Serie A top scorer Giuseppe
Signori, Argentine's Jose Chamot, Roberto Rambaudi, Paulo Negro,
Diego Fuser and Luca Marghegiani, reserve goalie of the Italian
team at the 1994 World Cup.
AS Roma, on the other hand, will send Argentine's Abel Eduardo
Balbo, Uruguay's Daniel Fonseca, Swede's Jonas Thern, Brazil's
Aldair, Giuseppe Giannini, Marco Lana and goalie Giovanni
Cervone.
"If everything goes well, playing host to two elite clubs from
Italy will lay a milestone in our soccer history," Dali was
quoted as saying by Suara Pembaruan yesterday.
Reasonable
Dali said AS Roma and Lazio differ in that Roma had asked for
a "considerably high" fee for appearing here. Roma's request was
"reasonable" because it will field its top stars Balbo, Fonseca,
Aldair and Jonas Thern. Dali declined to say how much the two
clubs had asked for. He said negotiation with Roma was still
underway. But if no deal is finalized with Roma, Lazio will take
on Indonesia's Liga Selection, a blend of Indonesia League's top
local players and imported booters, Dali said.
Otherwise, Roma, Lazio and Liga Indonesia will take on each
other for a 45-minute match each. The three matches will be held
in just one day, May 27.
Dali said it was Lazio which first proposed a match with an
Indonesian team during their Asian tour shortly before Roma
suddenly made the same proposal via telephone.
"We want Indonesian soccer fans to know that we are really
concerned about their satisfaction. We even care about
entertaining them."
The real reason may have something to do with the All-
Indonesia Football Federation administrators coming under fire
after the failure of the national team at various international
soccer events last year. The national team's latest failure was
at the 18th Southeast Asian Games in Thailand, last December, in
which it was denied semifinal berths after conceding 1-0 defeat
to Vietnam. (arf)