We know Lebanese team's depth, says Indonesian manager

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia will play Lebanon in a pre-Olympic U-23 soccer match here on Saturday, with the hosts saying that they are aware of their opponent's depth and have prepared their strategy accordingly.

"We know their strength after watching their game in Jordan," Indonesian team manager Irawadi D. Hanafi said here on Friday.

"But we can't be too detailed in talking about their flaws or what we are going to do in tomorrow's game, otherwise they would know our plan," he said.

Although Irawadi did not elaborate on what the Indonesian squad was preparing for the Lebanese, assistant coach Bambang Nurdiansyah said the team would likely try to speed up the pace of the match.

"Of course each team wants to win. I have to assume that they are also coming in with a well-prepared strategy, but we must be convinced that we are better prepared for the game," said Irawadi, adding that his squad also needed the support of the public.

Bambang said he wanted to see the team play like it did in a recent warm-up game against a team comprised of foreigners playing on clubs in Indonesia's domestic league.

"We want the players to repeat their performance against the foreign players," Bambang said.

The Indonesian Olympic team, under head coach Mundari Karya, demonstrated solid teamwork in beating the squad of foreign players 4-2 last week.

"We are pleased with what they showed us in that match and hope to see a similar display (against the Lebanese)," Bambang said.

Meanwhile, Irawadi's Lebanese counterpart, Rashid Nassar, said that although they did not know much about the Indonesian squad his players were physically and mentally ready for the hosts.

"We are not going to play defensive (football). We have come to win," he said.

The Indonesia-Lebanon fixture will be played over two legs, with the second leg to be held in Beirut next month. The winner will advance with 11 other teams to the finals, to be staged in 2004.

The match on Saturday will take place at the Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta at 7 p.m. Asian Football Confederation (AFC) match commissioner Mohd. Noor Hj. Abdullah said the match was allowed to take place because Indonesia had been declared safe from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

The AFC has rescheduled three other matches for September: Hong Kong-Sri Lanka, Chinese Taipei-Singapore and Iraq-Vietnam.