Jakarta wins Coke Cup soccer c'ship

Jakarta wins Coke Cup soccer c'ship

SURABAYA (JP): Two goals by Sofyan sealed Jakarta's victory over West Java in the final of the 10th Coke Cup National Under- 15 soccer championship here yesterday.

President Soeharto was scheduled to present the prestigious trophy to captain Yani M. Yamin on Sept. 9 in commemoration of the National Sport Day celebration at Istana Merdeka.

Yani M. Yamin and Sofyan were declared best booters and received Rp 500,000 each. Sofyan was also announced top scorer and pocketed another Rp 500,000.

In the playoff, East Java defeated South Sulawesi 5-3 (0-0) on a penalty shoot-out through goalie Sutikno, right back Sudin, stopper Shodiq, outside right Zainul Arifin and outside left Iswandi.

"Remember what I told you on Wednesday? We regard ourselves as an underdog team. So we play without the burden of winning expectations. That was the key to our victory," Jakarta head coach, Kunaryo, told The Jakarta Post.

Jakarta's strategy was "killing" West Java's playmaker, Nur Hasan Basri, by assigning Eri, whom Kunaryo referred to as the most physically fit player of his team, to tightly follow Basri wherever he went. He was to block him so that he had no chance of developing his team's rhythm into full swing.

"Basri is West Java's backbone. And Eri did his job wonderfully," Kunaryo said.

Another Jakarta strategy was to position its left winger in such a way as to anticipate a gap which might occur due to West Java's attacks from the left side.

West Java's team manager, Akhmad Zurfaih, attributed the loss to an anticlimax after his team played all-out against East Java the day before.

"Our team's performance reached its peak against East Java. Our players took on Jakarta with exhausted minds. They could no longer concentrate on the game. On the other hand, Jakarta's performance today was so different from its semifinal struggle. They were simply better," Zurfaih said.

Jakarta owed its victory to striker Sofyan, who scored the first goal in the fifth minute and the second in the 30th minute. He made both goals with the help of teammate Imam Wahyudi.

Both Jakarta and West Java played a high tempo game in the first half and slowed down in the second half.

Dominating the whole match, Jakarta was apparently more versatile. Its players demonstrated passing and other maneuvers which require accuracy and teamwork.

In the second half, Jakarta seemed to be exhausted and focused on defense. West Java kept on attacking, but its attacks were monotonous. They almost always came from the right flank, making it easier for Jakarta to anticipate them.

Most of Jakarta's players flocked around the goal post in anticipation of West Java's right-flank attacks. This defensive strategy lasted until the middle of the second half until Jakarta suddenly launched fresh attacks.

For Jakarta, this is the first victory at the annual tournament, which is sponsored by Coca-cola. In last year's tournament Jakarta finished fourth.

The win should also serve as a consolation for the suspension imposed on Jakarta in 1992 because one of its players was older than 15.

"We did not know that Deden, the player in question, had two elementary school certificates, but the West Java coach knew that, perhaps because Deden, like many of our players, come from suburban areas next door to West Java," said Jakarta team manager Sofyan Noer.

Even though they lost, becoming this year's runner-up for West Java is at least better than the third place they took last year. (arf)