Saputra

Indonesian Under-23s Assemble for Final Pre-Cut Football Camp

Cesar Payovich is nothing if not a man of his word.

After the Indonesian under-23 national team coach saw his side lose to Singapore on June 21, he intimated the team could look very different when it reassembled in August.

Sure enough, the Uruguayan called up 17 new players to augment the 21 already in his Palembang, South Sumatra, training camp ahead of the Southeast Asian Games in Vientiane, Laos.

The new-look squad begins training on Friday.

“We’ll call them in two sessions. First, the 21 players who’ve already been in the team since May will arrive on Aug. 6,” National Team Body (BTN) chief Rahim Soekasah said on Monday. “Then, the 17 new players have been asked to be in the camp on Aug. 11, and they will start training the day after.”

Payovich hand-picked the new call-ups after scouting the country with senior national team coach Benny Dollo.

The Uruguayan, whose team received a target of reaching the SEA Games final from the BTN, was clearly unhappy with the results of his team’s four summer friendlies. The U-23s lost 5-0 to the Iranian senior team in Tehran on May 26 and 2-1 to Iran’s U-23s two days later. They then lost 1-0 to the Malaysian U-23s on June 13 and 2-0 to Singapore’s U-23s on June 21.

Rahim said the BTN had yet to schedule any more warm-up matches for the U-23s before they competed in Laos in December, but he planned to discuss it with Payovich after the coach arrived in Palembang.

Payovich must also shuffle his coaching staff after Sudirman, one of his assistants, left the team.

“Sudirman is now working full-time in the senior national team to assist head coach Benny Dollo,” Rahim said.

“Cesar will be assisted by his assistants from Uruguay, [Francisco] Morales and [Gabriel Jorge] Anon.”

Indonesia is in search of its first SEA Games gold medal after winning the 1991 SEA Games. 

New Call-ups:

Goalkeepers: Muhammad Ridwan (Persita Tangerang), Galih Sudaryono (Pro Duta)

Defenders: Ruben Karel Sanadi (PSMS Medan), Yudi Khoerudin (Pro Duta), Hasim Kipau (Persija Jakarta), Danan Puspito (Persija), Seftia Hadi (Pro Duta)

Midfielders: I Gede Sukadana Pratama (Persela Lamongan), Nasution Karuraba (Persisam Samarinda), Rizki Ramdani Lestaluhu (Persija), Mahardiga Lasut (Persiraja Banda Aceh), Oktavianus Maniani (Pro Duta), Rusdi Muwalat (Persija)

Forwards: Andika Yudhistira Lubis (PSMS), Dendi Santoso (Arema Malang), Dede Hugo Kunarko (Deltras Sidoarjo), Engel Sani (Persiram Raja Ampat).

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