National soccer coach Nandar rebuts charges

JAKARTA (JP): National team coach Nandar Iskandar refuted the accusations that caused his expulsion from the Indonesia squad during the Tiger Cup round-robin matches in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

"I was earlier reported to have felt sick so I had to take a rest during the remaining matches. That's not true. I could still fly back home from Thailand and I'm in good condition now.

"If the team official said I was not assisting the team's performance, that is baseless. I can clarify more on this, but I will report first to Pak Agum (Gumelar, chairman of the Soccer Association of Indonesia) before I make a public announcement," said Nandar after his arrival in Jakarta on Tuesday morning.

He said if the players had a problem with his coaching method, they should have told him earlier because he had been coaching the team for more than a year.

Nandar was discharged by the PSSI official in charge of athletes development, Nurdin Halid, who is also the team's chef de mission, and team manager Muhammad Zein. He was blamed for Indonesia's 1-4 defeat to Thailand on Friday.

Many have questioned the decision as Nandar's dismissal must be conducted by PSSI chairman Agum Gumelar. PSSI signed a contract with Nandar last September to coach the team for the Asian Cup prequalifying round, the Independence Cup, the Asian Cup final and the Tiger Cup. The contract ends in December.

Nandar said he was really upset by the incident.

"I didn't make the decision to take a rest. It was not by my own will. Certainly, I can't accept it," the soft-spoken coach told a media gathering at the PSSI office.

"This incident hurts my pride. As a national team coach, I don't have much money, but I have dignity."

"When I'm coaching the national team, I put honesty above all things. I share this integrity with the players, hoping that they will be honest in making a winning team."

Nandar said he was no longer responsible for the team's performance. The team is now in Bangkok for its semifinal match against Vietnam on Thursday.

"If there is no reason for my presence on the team, it's better to cut my contract period short," he said.

He did not deny the possibility that he had been made a scapegoat in an alleged plot to change the national team coach with Dutchman Henk Wullems. "I can say the possibility is fifty- fifty."

Nandar was not clear if he disapproved of Nurdin's attitude as the contingent's leader. He said that he knew Nurdin very well because they had been working together since the Asian Cup prequalifying tournament.

"Pak Nurdin is very enthusiastic. In those crucial moments, his attitude made it a different atmosphere. During the first half of a match, Pak Nurdin kept asking me for my opinion and what I would do with the team the next minute when I should have been sitting quietly and concentrating on the strategy."

Nandar still believes that Indonesia's defeat to Thailand was a matter of technical failure.

"I don't believe that the players wanted to disgrace me in the match," he said. (ivy)