National football team to play try-out matches

JAKARTA (JP): The national soccer team will gear up for its gold medal winning campaign in the 18th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Thailand in December with 11 try-out matches, starting next month.

Assistant coach Andi Teguh said in the team's base camp in Gresik, East Java on Wednesday that the outings will be divided in three steps. Andi, however, failed to elaborate on the exact dates for the warm-up matches.

The national players, who kicked off their centralized training stint last month under Italian coach Romano Matte, will play their first matches against four East Javanese teams.

Local teams

They will then travel the archipelago, where they are slated to take on local teams in Manado, Medan, Banjarmasin and Bandung. The final three matches will pit the national team against three foreign opponents.

"We will play an away match against Guangzhou and two home matches," Andi told Antara. The All-Indonesia Football Association has yet to decide on the foreign sparring partner teams during the two final matches.

"We are going to find the best format of our team during the outings. Romano tends to follow the current trend in the soccer world that makes up a team of four forwards, four midfielders and two defenders," said Andi.

Both Matte and Andi are now grooming 24 players from the national league and the junior team. Putut Wijanarko of Assyabaab and Sasi Kirono of the league's runner-up Petrokimia Putra won a late call-up.

The two coaches will shortlist 22 players before moving the base camp to Lembang, a small town west of Bandung, next month. After completing the outings, Matte will name 18 players eligible for the SEA Games.

Indonesia just finished fourth behind host Singapore in the 1993 SEA Games. Indonesia, which last won the soccer gold medal in 1991, is now seeking its third victory despite the strong challenge of host Thailand's dream team.

Thailand has provided incentives worth six million bahts (around US$320,000) for its national soccer team if it manages to retain its gold medal. (amd)