'RI soccer team ready to take on China'

JAKARTA (JP): China's soccer coach Velibor 'Bora' Milutinovic avoided playing psychological games with Indonesian counterpart Benny Dolo ahead of the Indonesia-China encounter of the 2002 World Cup Group Nine Asia Zone qualifier at Bung Karno Stadium on Sunday.

Bora told a media briefing Friday that his team was ready for Sunday's clash and that Jakarta's heat did not pose a significant problem for the Chinese.

"Our players are in a good condition and they can all play on Sunday," he said. "The weather here is superb, it's not too hot. The weather in Guangzhou (where China hosts Cambodia in another qualifying match) is worse than here."

Indonesia's national soccer coach Benny admitted that China was stronger than Indonesia, but he pledged that his players would play differently from how they did in Kunming, China, on May 13, where they were overwhelmed 5-1 by the home team.

"The weather here is different from Kunming. It's more friendly to us. I think we'll play a different style. But I can't predict the result because it's not as easy as one plus one equals two. Soccer is mysterious," he said.

Indonesia has to score five without conceding any goals to go through to the final qualifying round. A draw result will send China into the last round along with ten group nine champions.

Seven of the group champions -- Iran, Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq, Uzbekistan, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia -- have already booked their tickets to the qualifying round.

Only two or three Asian countries will qualify for the World Cup finals to join hosts South Korea and Japan, which qualify automatically.

Bora underlined that the result was the most important above all else.

He also disputed the possibility of an easy Chinese win because the Indonesian players were not in form.

All the Indonesian players have had to join their clubs and play in the Bank Mandiri national soccer league after returning from Kunming last Tuesday. The players have only had about two days rest.

"I'm very glad to come here with a four goal advantage. If somebody asks me 'Bora, do you like going to Indonesia?', I think with that goal advantage we are in a good position, so I will sign to that.

"But we have to play the game first," he said.

Bora said on Friday that he would not measure any success by the number of goals scored.

"Four goals are (allowed), but not five, because with five goals Indonesia will automatically qualify," he said.

China will miss its top defenders Zhang Enhua and Sun jihai, but has enlisted players with experience at European clubs, including Ma Mingyu, a former Perugia player, Fan Zhiyi, who plays for English first division team Crystal Palace, Yang Chen, playing with Eintracht Frankfurt, and Xie Hui, who plays with Aachen in Germany. (ivy)