Veterans turn back the clock in Aceh benefit game

Veterans turn back the clock in Aceh benefit game

Moch. N. Kurniawan
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Thoughts of winning took second place to a good cause as
international soccer legends faced the Indonesia All Stars in the
Aceh Tetap Sekolah (Aceh Stay in School) tsunami charity match on
Tuesday night.

Still, there was pride on the line, and the veteran visitors
triumphed 4-3 in an entertaining game in Senayan, Central
Jakarta.

Thicker around the middle, thinner on top and not as fast on
their feet as during their playing days, the former stars
turned back the clock with flashes of brilliance of yesteryear.

Although Bolivian Mariano Etcheverry opened the scoring in the
16th minute, former Liverpool midfielder Mark Walters was the
architect of the victory. The 42 year old scored a hat trick in
the 20th, 54th and 74th minutes.

The Indonesia All Stars -- a mix of both current and former
players from Indonesia and the region -- trailed 0-2 before
national player Syamsul Bahri clawed one back in the 33rd minute.
Goals by Thailand's Piyapong Pue On (60) and Widodo C Putra (70)
were not enough to stave off the legends' win.

Both teams said helping Aceh was their most important concern.

"It doesn't matter who wins the match as we are focused on
donating to Acehnese children to relieve their difficulties,"
Carlos Dunga, captain of Brazil's 1994 World Cup winning team,
said at a gala dinner on Monday night.

Unfortunately, the turnout was sparse. Organizer PT
Excelcomindo said on Monday it had sold about 12,000 tickets --
priced from Rp 10,000 (about US$1.10) to Rp 300,000 -- for the
110,000-capacity stadium.

However, an auction of player memorabilia at the gala dinner
raised $40,400 toward the target of Rp 2 billion.