PSSI vows to dominate SE Asian soccer

PSSI vows to dominate SE Asian soccer

JAKARTA (JP): The All Indonesian Soccer Federation (PSSI) has
taken into account it's pre-Olympic loss announcing it will focus
on dominating Southeast Asian soccer, rather than the whole Asia
arena.

PSSI chairman Agum Gumelar said on Tuesday evening the
federation must start to focus on the gold medal in the 20th
Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Brunei Darussalam in August.

Indonesia failed to qualify for the pre-Olympics after losing
0-7 to South Korea in a do-or-die match of the Group Eight
qualifying round in Seoul last week.

"Considering the result, I realize where our soccer team
belongs in the world. The last board of executives vowed to bring
our soccer onto the world arena, but I told current officials we
could not make a big jump directly."

"First, we must gain supremacy in Southeast Asia before
dominating in Asia. Then we can move into the world arena," Agum
said in an evaluation of the national team's performance with
PSSI officials.

Agum apologized for the loss -- considered by local soccer
fans as humiliating -- because the team, consisting of under 23-
year-olds from various clubs, was unable to counterattack and
kick a single goal.

Indonesia won 2-1 against Chinese Taipei and 2-1 against Sri
Lanka, before being overwhelmed by South Korea.

"It's a bitter reality we all must accept. Now we can judge
ourselves. We fail to speak in Asia, although we are invincible
in Southeast Asia. To move up, we must work harder and learn from
our loss," said the three-star general.

However, Indonesia will face tough challenges from the 1997
SEA Games soccer champion Thailand, the 1998 Tiger Cup champion
Singapore and dark horse Vietnam in the Games.

Agum said he had studied coach Bernhard Schumm's report, which
reported that the defeat was probably caused by an incorrect
strategy.

"I think no coach ever wants his team to lose. If Schumm
really did that, he is really a big crook. I know he made every
effort, but the Koreans' performance in the field smashed all our
original estimations. They are world class players and we are two
levels below.

"I earlier thought that both Indonesia and South Korea were of
equal class, so the victory would depend on which team had the
strongest motivation. Apparently my assessment was wrong," said
Agum, who is also the governor of the National Resilience
Institute.

He dismissed calls from local coaches and soccer observers to
fire Schumm from his position as national team coach following
the failure. He said PSSI would need more time to find a new
coach who could be accepted by players with only two months to go
before the Games.

"We have limited time. I have examined Schumm's performance
and I believe there are no problems in the coach-player
relationships. If we change the coach, he would be scapegoat if
our team failed at the Games." (ivy)