PSSI doubtful about women's team at SEAG
Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A poor performance in the run-up to the SEA Games seems to have raised doubts in the mind of the chairman of Indonesia's governing soccer body PSSI on whether the national women's team will be able to live up to expectations.
Nurdin Halid, who has been in the PSSI top position for only around a month, looks resigned to the possibility that the team will not be going to Vietnam, the venue of the SEA Games next month.
Apparently unconvinced about his team's medal prospects, Nurdin said on Wednesday that the association would leave it to KONI, the national sports authority, to determine the team's fate.
"If pushed to win a medal, the team, I would recommend, should not go to the SEA Games. However, if it is for the sake of far- reaching development it deserves a trip," Nurdin said after watching the squad playing against a local team in a warmup match at the Bung Karno Stadium here on Wednesday.
It is now up to KONI, because it has the authority to decide.
In a one-sided match, the squad proved too strong for local club Buana Putri, scoring a crushing 7-0 win.
Despite the big win, the team, now under coach Bambang Nurdiansyah, has raised questions over its ability in a challenge against other teams in the region, which could have earned it a confidence vote to reach at least the semifinals as it did during the 2001 SEA Games in Malaysia.
"Based on the skills they showed today, it would be too much for us to expect them to achieve a respectable result, with the SEA Games about to start soon," Nurdin said as quoted by Antara.
Although the official commencement of the SEA Games, which will include 32 sporting events, will be on Dec. 5 the soccer competition will commence as early as Nov. 27.
Nurdin was still hopeful that the team would proceed to Vietnam, and added that KONI should not expect too much of it.
The team's planned trip has been under review following its disappointing performance at the Quadrangular tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, earlier this month.
Indonesia scored only one goal and conceded 14 in humiliating defeats by Thailand 6-0, Malaysia 3-1 and by the Philippines 5-0 at the tournament held from Oct. 14 to Nov. 4.
In Vietnam, Indonesia is in Group A with defending champion and host Vietnam, plus the two teams that crushed the Indonesians at the Quadrangular championships, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Despite his doubts, Nurdin insisted that the squad deserved to participate in Vietnam for the sake of its future development.
He attributed his team's poor performance to the lack of time for preparation.
He said that the team had been training for about one-and-a half to two months, while other countries had already benefited from six to eight months.
"The host, Vietnam, has been training for as long as a year," he said.