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.