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)