PSSI invites players for national team selection

JAKARTA (JP): The Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) has invited 28 soccer players from the main division clubs who are now competing in the sixth Indonesian Soccer League (Ligina) to attend the selection for the national team's lineup.

PSSI's national team director, Mohammad Zein, told a media briefing on Tuesday that 20 players would join the selection here starting from March 6 to March 24 and the remaining eight, who could join the selection after they finished competing in Ligina's first round, would come to Jakarta after March 29.

"The players will fill the national team lineup to compete in three events -- the Independence Cup here, the Asian Cup in Lebanon and the Tiger Cup in Thailand. The training program will effectively start in June," he said.

National team coach Nandar Iskandar, who accompanied Zein in the briefing, said he would only need 24 players for the national team. He said there were 16 players in the team who were former competitors in the Asian Cup prequalifying round.

"I have to see the players' performances during the selection before I make up my mind on who should join the national team. I will select 24 players and will find the best players for the national team," he said.

"Each player should meet some requirements, such as high individual skills, good teamwork, high mental ability and responsibility," he added.

Nandar will be assisted by Rudy Keltjes, Dananjaya and goalkeeper trainer Arjuna Rinaldi.

Nandar said the 28 players would compete with players from local clubs as part of the selection. The friendly matches will start on March 11 to March 24.

He also said that the players who were invited to take part in the selection were recommended by the coaches in a meeting in January. He said his assistants, Dananjaya and Rudy, had assisted him in observing the players' performances during Ligina.

Zein added he would invite 21 under-19 players to be selected for the U-19 team. The team will compete in the U-19 Asian Youth Championships in Sichuan, China, from April 1 to April 5.

He said the 21 players would join another 18 players under 18 years of age from Ragunan sports school in South Jakarta. The U- 19 team coach, Rudy Keltjes, will observe the U-18 team's performance during their friendly matches with four clubs in East Java, from March 9 to March 13. (ivy)