Indonesia coaches to check strength of soccer rivals

JAKARTA (JP): National soccer coach Benny Dolo and his assistant Mundari Karya left for a one-day trip to Kuala Lumpur to observe Malaysia's and Thailand's teams perform in the qualifying round of the Merdeka Cup tournament on Tuesday evening.

Team manager Irawadi D. Hanafi told reporters on Tuesday that host Malaysia and Thailand would likely field a similar lineup for the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Kuala Lumpur from Sept. 8 to Sept. 17.

"Benny and Mundari will observe the Malaysian and Thai players' strength and weaknesses, " he said.

Malaysia has fielded both its national and under-23 teams for the cup, which will end on Saturday. Six countries -- Slovakia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bahrain, Thailand, Uzbekistan and India -- is competing in the tournament.

Indonesia, aiming to reach the finals in the Games, has put defending champion Thailand and 1999 Games runner-up Vietnam as its strongest contenders. Indonesia only managed a bronze in Brunei Darussalam in 1999.

However, it must also be aware of the home team's ambition of winning the gold.

Spokesman for the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) Eddi Elison said the manager and coaches would decide the core team for the biennial event after the players returned from their friendly matches in Perth, West Australia.

The team will leave for Australia on July 15. Benny will take the 24 players for the friendlies, except those who have been injured.

Indonesia is scheduled to face West Australia's under-19 team on July 18, West Australia's national team on July 21 and West Australia's under-23 team on July 23.

In an unrelated development, Eddi said PSSI had assigned Persikota team's treasurer Eha Habibah Ardi as the SEA Games women's team manager.

PSSI has also appointed former national player Bambang Nurdiansyah as the team's coach replacing Muhardi.

"We want to revitalize our women's team management and coaching methods. We think that Ibu Eha has had enough experience with Persikota," Eddi said.

Eha joined Persikota nine years ago when the team was playing in the second division. The team has now joined the main league. Eha said she was just notified of her appointment.

"I think I'll be facing a tough challenge. I have just learned of my appointment today (Tuesday). But I thank PSSI for the assignment, it's an honor for me," she said, adding that she had no idea of how competent the women's team was.

Eddi said Muhardi was replaced because of his poor training methods. In the last two friendlies, the women's national team lost 16-0 and 18-0 to the students of the AS-IOP soccer school, who were mostly teenagers.

PSSI secretary-general Tri Goestoro said Indonesia had not set ambitious targets for the women's team in the Games. "We are just hoping that in future more women will want to play soccer." (ivy)