Sampdoria recruits Indonesia's Kurniawan

Sampdoria recruits Indonesia's Kurniawan

JAKARTA (JP): Italian Serie A club Sampdoria has agreed to
recruit Indonesian footballer Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto for three
years, but he will only start playing this December.

Nirwan Bakrie of Pelita Jaya, who secured Kurniawan after he
wrapped up his two-year stay with Swiss Premiership club FC
Lucerne last May, said that the 20-year-old striker has moved to
Sampdoria for a modest US$50,000 transfer fee.

"It's not a big deal, but it's an honor to play with a team
with an internationally recognized reputation," Nirwan said at a
press conference here on Monday.

Indonesia's most valuable player will leave for Genoa,
Sampdoria's home base, this Friday.

Kurniawan will be the first Southeast Asian player to join the
Serie A. He is the second Asian footballer to play in the world's
richest league after Kazuyoshi Miura of Japan, who was on Genoa's
books for three months last year.

As one of Sven Goran Eriksson's squad of 22, Kurniawan will
earn a career-high monthly salary of Rp 9 million ($3,860).

"Kurniawan will receive the same treatment as other Sampdoria
players," Nirwan confirmed. It remains unclear whether Eriksson
will include Kurniawan in his starting line-up.

Kurniawan will join French star Christian Karembeu,
Argentina's Faustino Ferron and Yugoslavia's Sinisa Mihailovic as
imported players in Eriksson's side.

Sampdoria, the Italian champion in 1991 who managed only to
finish in the middle of the table last season, has released its
talented striker Enrico Chiesa to Parma.

Nirwan denied that his business activities in Italy had
affected Sampdoria's decision to hire Kurniawan. "A big club like
Sampdoria would not take such a silly consideration," Nirwan
said. "They have observed Kurniawan since he joined a national
training program in Italy two years ago."

Kurniawan was among 18 Indonesian teenage players who
underwent a special stint with Sampdoria for Rp 2 billion
($860,000) from 1993 to 1995.

Sampdoria included him in its line-up for its Asian and
Australian tour in 1994. Kurniawan scored a goal for Sampdoria in
its 3-2 win over Indonesia that year. He also found the net, this
time for Indonesia, in Sampdoria's 1-2 loss in Medan, North
Sumatra last May.

Nirwan said that according to the clauses of the contract,
Kurniawan will be released for international duties, such as the
ASEAN Championships in September and the Asian Cup finals in
December. (amd)