RI soccer team heads to Australia for warm-up

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian soccer squad left the country on Monday for a series of training and warm-up matches in Australia as preparation for the Asian Cup championships.

The squad, which consists of 18 players, coach Danurwindo and assistant manager Amri Lubis, will face a West Australian team in Perth today.

The team is missing the services of Andi M. Teguh, assistant coach of Danurwindo, who died on Saturday after suffering a heart attack.

Indonesia will feature Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto, Peri Sandria, Widodo C. Putro, Eri Irianto, Ansyari Lubis, Aples G. Tecuari and captain Fachry Husaini. They were members of the team which beat Sampdoria 2-1 in Medan, North Sumatra, in May.

Antara reported that Indriyanto and Aji Santoso will have to skip the match and will be replaced by Khairul Anwar and Suwandi HS.

The West Australian team will feature, among others, Alan McKenzy, who plays in the Scotland League, and goalkeeper Robert Zabica, who has been capped by the national team 40 times. (yan)