The Tiger Cup has yet to wrap up, but the Indonesian soccer

The Tiger Cup has yet to wrap up, but the Indonesian soccer
team's high flying run in the group stage in early December has
redeemed an otherwise mediocre 2004 campaign, which also saw a
leadership crisis at the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI).

Drawn with host nation Vietnam, along with Singapore, Laos and
Cambodia; Indonesia, under the guidance of Englishman Peter
Withe, finished atop Group A with three wins and a draw, scoring
17 goals and allowing exactly zero goals!

After 6-0 and 8-0 maulings of Laos and Cambodia, respectively,
which had been expected, a 3-0 win over Vietnam surprised many.

That win left Vietnam out of the semifinals, leaving
Singapore, which held Indonesia to a 0-0 draw, as the number two
team in the group.

Group B, which was played in Kuala Lumpur, ended with
unheralded Myanmar and Malaysia going through, much to the
chagrin of favored Thailand.

Indonesia is set to play Malaysia and Singapore will take on
Myanmar in the home-and-away semifinals, with the first leg
scheduled for Dec. 28.

The Tiger Cup is the biennial premier soccer championship
among 11 Southeast Asian nations, which began in 1996.

Indonesia's impressive march in the Tiger Cup was a far cry
from their Asian Cup performance in China, but there were a few
bright spots seen even then.

They scored their first win in their third qualification match
in the quadrennial tournament when they stunned Qatar 2-1, but
overall it turned out to be a disappointing performance by the
team, then being coached by Bulgarian Ivan Kolev.

The team suffered a crushing 5-0 defeat to China and lost 3-1
to Bahrain to finish in third place in their group. Japan
eventually went on to retain the trophy after defeating China 3-1
in the final.

The failure to advance to the next stage led to the departure
of Kolev, who then moved to Myanmar.

His departure left the coaching job to Withe, who was, at the
time, focused on taking charge of the Under-20 team. He was
snapped up earlier in the year by PSSI after he successfully
steered Thailand to the Tiger Cup championship twice (2000 and
2002).

Although he was officially employed by PSSI in March, it was
not until Kolev's departure in August that Withe assumed control
of the national team.

In their final three matches of their 2006 World Cup Asian
qualifying campaign during the first set of group games,
Indonesia booked a 3-1 win over Turkmenistan, a 2-2 draw with Sri
Lanka and 3-1 loss to Saudi Arabia.

Overall, Indonesia scored two wins, a draw, and three losses
to finish in third in their 4-team group behind unbeatable Saudi
Arabia and Turkmenistan. Only the Saudis qualified for the next
qualifying round to determine the Asian representatives in
Germany in 2006.

Indonesia's under-20 team also had a tough time at the U-20
Asian Cup held in Kuala Lumpur in September and October.

Indonesia's young players lost 1-0 to Qatar, 5-1 to China, and
6-2 to Iran.

However, the tournament saw the rise of the very talented Boas
Salossa, who scored two of Indonesia's three goals. The 18-year-
old was then called up to the national team for the Tiger Cup and
his remarkable speed down the flanks was one reason they finished
atop their group.

In club competition, Indonesia's representatives Persik Kediri
and PSM Makassar found the Asian Champions League a bit too hot
to handle.

League champion Persik fell to an ignominious 15-0 defeat to
eventual runner-up Seongnam Chunma of South Korea to finish in
third place in the four-team Group G, while PSM finished last in
Group F.

The Tiger Cup aside, Indonesia has been struggling to find a
successful formula, since it last won a major soccer competition
-- the 1991 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Manila.

Back in 1986, Indonesia was able to advance to the semifinals
of the Asian Games in Korea, a feat that has not been matched
since. Even qualifying for the Asian Games has now become a
distant dream for Indonesian players today.

In the Southeast Asian region, the team has played second
fiddle to Thailand for many years.

The poor results have been attributed to a complex series of
problems on and off the field.

On the field, the players had poor skills, weak endurance, a
lack of confidence and virtually no team work.

When Withe first watched a training session for the U-20
national team, the first thing he noted was that Indonesian
players had a "poor mentality".

He said that the players lacked the confidence to explore
their individual skills, therefore their talents had not
developed at an optimum pace.

This resulted in poor teamwork and the absence of ideas to win
matches, he added.

He also said the physical fitness of the players remained at
too low a level for proper soccer, and implored them to get fit.

With those tough challenges, Withe indeed has his work cut out
for him if he intends to bring success.

While Withe has formidable tasks to deal with during his four-
year contract term here, PSSI was overshadowed by leadership
problems.

PSSI chairman Nurdin Halid, who took the reins in 2003, was
rarely able to make time to focus on his duties with him being
detained in police custody for his alleged involvement in
corruption.

Whoever leads PSSI, he will have to deal with persistent,
stressful issues including subpar refereeing and unsportsmanlike
conduct on the part of many players, both of which have triggered
violent incidents on the field.

Clashes flared up between players of Persija Jakarta and
Persita Tangerang at the beginning of the season, which led to
the suspension and/or fine of a number of players.

Problems of unruly supporters, player transfers and a
reluctance on the part of clubs to release their players for the
national team, are among the other issues that still need to be
tackled.

Nevertheless, the hiring of The Great Withe Hope seems to have
mitigated some of the problems, particularly for the players
under his tutelage.