RI booters ready to play S. Koreans

RI booters ready to play S. Koreans

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia is beating its warfare drum ahead of
its Olympic Games qualifying round soccer match against powerful
South Korea at the Senayan stadium on Thursday.

The South Koreans, buoyed by its 5-0 drubbing of lowly Hong
Kong, will serve as a stern test for Danurwindo's men, who have
just completed their two-year Italian stint.

Money was no option for the All-Indonesia Football
Association, which has been exploring every avenue in restoring
the national soccer echelon. The overseas stint, in the world's
most outstanding soccer country, cost the association at least Rp
1.2 billion (US$545,000) a year.

"We are ready to fight it out," Nirwan Bakrie, the official in
charge of building the national team, said yesterday. "Our team
is not bad. It has developed its own pattern and it has a strong
drive to win."

The team, trained under the tutelage of Danurwindo, Harry
Tjong and Tord Grip, has yet to prove its exceptional prowess,
despite their two wins and a draw in its three try-outs so far.

Swiss premiership Lucerne's Kurniawan led his squad to a
humble 0-0 draw with Singapore and an unemphatic 2-0 win over
Johor 10 days ago. They improved, however, with a narrow 2-1
victory over national league leader Pelita Jaya on Friday.

"The results do not exactly portray our chances. I'm still
optimistic we have something to do, to beat South Korea," said
Nirwan. The team relies on most of the country's squad members,
who donned the national colors in the 1994 Asian Youth
Championship finals here.

Indonesia, South Korea and Hong Kong join Group C of the Asian
zonal qualifying round, with the winner marching into the next
round. Indonesia hosts Hong Kong on Sunday.

Indonesia was an inch closer to qualifying for the 1976
Olympic Games when Iswadi Idris and company lost in a heart-
stopping penalty shoot-out to North Korea. It has never
progressed farther than the sub-group qualifying round since
then. (arf/amd)