Where's Indonesia's place in Asian Cup finals?

Where's Indonesia's place in Asian Cup finals?

Budi A. Sanusi, Contributor, Jakarta

We have every reason to heave a big sigh of relief with the
success of our national soccer team in making it through to the
Asian Cup finals in China next year.

On the other side of the coin, however, we too have every
reason to feel despondent about how far the team will go there.
Why?

First of all, the results gained by Eduard Ivakdalam and
company in the recent Asian Cup qualifying tournament in Jeddah
are not something that could do Indonesian soccer fans proud.

To be honest we only prevailed over two of Asia's minnows --
Bhutan and Yemen -- while we were completely outclassed by host
Saudi Arabia, which is one of the continent's giants.

Indonesia beat Bhutan -- the whipping boys of the tournament
-- by the similar scores in two ties of the round-robin
tournament.

Considering the lightly regarded reputation of the tiny
country near the Himalayas in this sport, Indonesia should have
won by a much bigger margin. Then we defeated Yemen 3-0 in the
first match and managed to scrap a 2-2 dour draw in the second
encounter having survived a barrage of heavy onslaughts by the
Yemenis in the last minutes.

The charges of chief coach Ivan Kolev were soundly beaten by
the Saudis 5-0 and 6-0 in the two mismatches between David and
Goliath.

We are very sure Kolev has known all along that the rivals in
China next year will be those of the same rank and level of Saudi
Arabia such as South Korea, Japan, Iran and China. This however
should not discourage Indonesia from trying to make the most of
its presence.

The players should show being there for them is not merely
token participation, rather they deserve to be among Asia's
finest -- no matter how small their chances are. The trashing by
the Saudis should serve as a hard but valuable lesson to learn
and make amends for the mistakes of the players.

Kolev is known as a cool character -- showing little anger,
disappointment, happiness or sadness in whatever situation in and
off the field. He registers no expression at all whenever his
charges score or concede goals. His style and attitude I believe
could augur well for cultivating an unwavering and never-say-die
spirit and determination into the players.

Kolev certainly knows what to do in China next year. Having
observed the team's performance in Jeddah the most glaring
weakness is the defense line. Nur Alim and Agung Setiobudi were
often caught off guard and a trifle late in containing danger.

These two defenders, both 31 of age, should quickly identify
their mistakes or have their names axed from the list.

In midfield the tandem of Uston Nawawi and Budi Sudarsono is
good enough with a small note that Budi, who is an attacking
midfielder, should do his best to also act as a defending
midfielder.

Uston should operate more deeply in the front line to help the
strikers and provide assists. Kolev should include him in the
starting lineup as Uston is known for his cannon ball shots and
an expert in taking free kicks.

Eduard Ivakdalam, Eli Aboy and Kurniawan Dwi Julianto should
be the first choice forwards. The hard-working Eduard and Aboy
should sharpen their mutual understanding in beefing up attacks
and creating goal scoring opportunities.

They should shift position quickly whenever they see it fit to
score the goal without giving chances for the opposition to
shadow their movement with or without the ball. Aboy should be
pushed to optimize their dribbling skills in the box providing
passes for Eduard or Kurniawan to do the finishing.

While Kurniawan, who does not have hard long-range shot, could
make it up by his sprinting ability as he is known as the fastest
sprinter in the team.

The trio will form a very valuable asset in the team if they
could continue maintaining their playing rhythm, stride,
cooperation and first of all momentum.

Under the bar, Jendri Pitoy should be kept as the first choice
goal keeper but he should be urged to improve his reflexes in
anticipating danger.

Lastly coach Kolev and his staff should not forget one thing,
which if neglected and overlooked has the potential to wreck the
whole system: the psychological factors of every single
individual in the team.

No matter how small Indonesia's chances are against the giants
of Asia should not deter the players from doing their utmost.
With a bit of luck and great determination the chance is always
there and we should not throw in the towel before the first
whistle is blown.

The players should be reminded of what their predecessors did
in the 1996 Asian Cup finals when Widodo Cahyono Putro and
companions created a stir by holding highly favored Kuwait to a
2-2 draw.

Indonesia could have even won the game as it had led 2-0 at
half time but Lady Luck seemed to desert the players and they had
to settle with the draw. Indonesia finally bowed out of the
competition after losing 2-4 to South Korea, which was forced to
work extra hard for that narrow win.

At the end of the tournament the committee presented a special
award to Widodo for his spectacular and beautiful goal against
Kuwait. The volley into the Kuwaiti net was declared the best
goal of the tournament.

Hopefully Indonesia's creditable showing in the 1996 finals
could inspire Eduard and teammates to emulate what their
predecessors had achieved, if not do even better.