Swiss club signs Kurniawan

JAKARTA (JP): Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto, the star of the national junior soccer team, will become the first Indonesian footballer ever to play professionally in Switzerland after he signs a deal with FC Lucerne on Thursday.

"He will get a monthly salary of 2,000 Swiss francs (US$1,544)," Rahim Sukasah, the person in charge of an ambitious million-dollar project aimed at grooming the junior team for the 2000 World Cup finals, was quoted yesterday by Media Indonesia as saying.

The 18-year-old striker, who is currently in Italy for a second one-year training stint with Sampdoria, successfully passed a one-week test in Lucerne last week. (arf)