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)