Indonesia's prospects dim in Asian Cup c'ship

Indonesia's prospects dim in Asian Cup c'ship

JAKARTA (AFP): Indonesia's prospects of advancing beyond the first round of the Asian Cup are slim, a former national soccer coach told AFP Saturday.

"Indonesia is now in the 'hell' group, and it would be very difficult for Indonesia to score a victory in this group," Parlin Siagian, assistant coach for the 1996 cup said.

In the draw in Beirut on Thursday, Indonesia was placed in Group B against Kuwait, China and South Korea.

Iran, Iraq, Thailand and Lebanon make up Group A while Japan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Uzbekistan will contest Group C.

The top two teams from each group and the two best third placed teams will advance to the quarterfinals at the Oct. 12 to Oct. 29 tournament in Lebanon.

"From the technical point of view, Indonesia is far below the three teams and physically Indonesian players also cannot compete with these opponents," Siagian said.

He said the only chance Indonesia had to win a match was against Kuwait. In 1996 against Kuwait, Indonesia led 2-0 at one stage before the game closed with a draw of 2-2.

Siagian said in the run-up to the tournament, Indonesia could do little more than try to build players' physical strength.

"Preparing their physics is the only thing the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) can do," Siagian said.

In Seoul, South Korea's national football coach Huh Jung-Moo said Saturday his side was bracing itself for tough challenges against Kuwait and China in the first round of the Asian Cup.

"The agile Kuwait and the giant China are both formidable challenges to us," Huh said.

After analyzing videos of a match between China and Japan on March 15, Huh said he was impressed by China's brisk pace, precise passing and tightly-knit defense.

Japan, which boasts one of the region's strongest attack lines, was held to a goalless draw with China at the time.

China has yet to win the Asian Cup, the continent's biggest international tournament, while the Koreans have won the competition twice.

Kuwait is another major obstacle to South Korea's efforts to reach the last eight.

"We have to build up a strong defense to cope with the speedy and supple Kuwaiti strikers. They may easily weave their ways through the defense and fire shots from the least expected angles," Huh said.

Pundits have identified Group B the most difficult of the first round competitions following Thursday's draw in Beirut.