Matte head coach for RI soccer team
Matte head coach for RI soccer team
JAKARTA (JP): The All Indonesia Soccer Association (PSSI) has
officially appointed Romano Matte as head coach for the national
team bound for the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
He is to take up his new duties on April 26.
The Italian coach has been formally released from private club
Pelita Jaya, for which he had been coaching, PSSI chairman Azwar
Anas announced after a meeting on Thursday.
In preparing the national team for the SEA Games, Matte will
be assisted by Andi Teguh, who is now coaching for the East Java
club, Petro Kimia Putra.
Previously Matte had coached the under-20 national team and
prepared them for the under-21 Primavera competitions in Italy.
He also trained players for the qualifying round of the Asia Cup
here last year.
He was then hired by Nirwan Bakrie, owner of Pelita Jaya, to
help boost the club's performance in the Indonesian League.
Azwar, who is also Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare,
said that as head coach Matte will be required to select the
nation's best players for the SEA Games team. He is expected to
choose from among players proposed by the 34 coaches of the clubs
competing in Indonesia's soccer leagues.
Matte is scheduled to tour Indonesia to evaluate the players
proposed by the clubs.
Pre-Olympic
PSSI also is considering relocating the venue of the pre-
qualifying matches for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, which will pit
Indonesia's junior team against South Korea and Hong Kong, from
Jakarta to Surabaya.
Indonesia is scheduled to take on South Korea on May 25 and
Hong Kong on May 30 at Jakarta's Senayan stadium. South Korea and
Hong Kong will entertain Indonesia some time in August.
The reason for the relocation is that Surabaya supporters are
well known for their fanaticism and this could be very helpful
toward boosting the home team's spirit, Azwar said.
If the plan is approved, no league matches will be held at
Surabaya's Gelora 10 November stadium 10 days prior to the
Olympic pre-qualifying matches.
The Surabaya stadium was the venue of the 1991 pre-qualifying
matches in which Indonesia fell 2-1 to Japan, drew 0-0 with Hong
Kong and beat Taiwan 2-1.
The junior team has been undergoing its second year in Italy
and competing in Italy's Primavera competitions. The team will be
in Singapore on May 14 for several tryouts and is expected to
return home on May 17. (arf)