Indonesia in Tough Draw for SEA Games Football Competition

Diposkan oleh Unknown on 19 October 2011

INDONESIAN SOCCER,-  If Indonesia breaks its long drought in Southeast Asian Games football this year, it will have earned every ounce of gold. Wednesday’s draw for the group stage in November’s Games did the host nation few favors, placing Indonesia alongside defending champion Malaysia and regional powers Thailand and Singapore.

Cambodia will likely be the only respite in Group A. Group B, meanwhile, features defending 2009 Games runner-up Vietnam, Laos, Brunei, East Timor, Burma and the Philippines.

With only the top two in each group advancing to the semifinals, coach Rahmad Darmawan’s squad faces a challenging road to bring Indonesia its first Games gold medal since 1991.

However, Rahmad was calm and collected after the draw.

“I always pray for the best for my team, including before the draw, then we got this. I believe the group is the best thing that could happen to us,” he said.

“The most important thing for us right now is to focus on our job and put our best effort on the field to qualify to the next round.”

Reverse psychology or not, Rahmad may have a point.

Indonesia had what looked like an easy group at the 2009 Games in Vientiane, Laos, being drawn with Singapore, Burma and the host nation. Instead, a 2-2 draw with Singapore was followed by a stunning 2-0 loss to Laos and a 3-1 defeat against Burma, leaving the Merah Putih last in the group.

Malaysian football has been on an upswing recently. After winning the 2009 Games, its senior team won the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup after beating Indonesia in the two-legged final.

Thailand, which has won Games gold 11 times since 1977, will likely send the U-23 team that lost 1-0 to Japan in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. Singapore haswon bronze in the last two Games.

Rahmad said he was not worried about the draw, though.

“In age-group teams, all Southeast Asian teams have more or less the same quality. There are no big or minnow teams. All of the teams have the same chance to qualify from the group, even Cambodia,” he said.

The coach also said he had sent assistant Widodo Cahyono Putra to Hanoi to scout future opponents at the VFF Cup. Vietnam, Malaysia and Burma will play in the tournament.

At home, Pakistan has canceled Friday’s friendly against the Under-23 team, Rahmad said. Instead, his squad will play local club Mitra Kukar on the same day. The team’s last international friendly before the Games is against East Timor at Gelora Bung Karno on Oct. 25.

Pundits and fans expressed some surprise over Indonesia’s group. Draws usually seed several teams to prevent big names from playing each other at an early stage, but Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) secretary general Tri Goestoro said everything was done by the book.

“In the SEA Games technical handbook, there are only two seeded teams in the draw. They are defending champion, which is Malaysia, and the runner up, which is Vietnam,” Tri said. “All the countries’ federations, including the PSSI, agreed on the rules. The draw was fair and square.”

Indonesia opens group play against Cambodia on Nov. 9, followed by Singapore on Nov. 13, Thailand on Nov. 15 and Malaysia on Nov. 17. All Group A matches are at Gelora Bung Karno.

Vietnam and the Philippines kick off the competition at Gelora Bung Karno on Nov. 3, followed by Laos against Burma.

Elsewhere, the PSSI disciplinary committee said the fate of striker Irfan Bachdim, who failed to show up for the U-23 team’s training camp, would be decided on Monday.
(thejakartaglobe)