•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   

Coaching the Indonesian national team is never going to be easy. As well as finding players and trying to mold them into a cohesive unit, the coach has to deal with high expectations from a football-mad country that deems success as a birthright even though it has never tasted any.

Austrian Alfred Riedl has been busy these last couple of months trying to put together a team that can finally achieve something no other Indonesian team has done — win the Asean Football Federation Cup.

It rankles the passionate home support that will fill the Bung Karno Stadium against Malaysia, Laos and Thailand over the coming days that Indonesia, the biggest country in Southeast Asia, has failed to make a serious impression in its own backyard, and the Merah Putih goes into this competition hoping this year will finally be its year.

It won’t be easy. Off the field, there has been internal friction among those who run the national team just at the time when everyone should be pulling together.

And on the field, preparations have been less than ideal with convincing wins against mediocre opposition like Maldives, East Timor and Taiwan.

Two weaknesses have haunted the national team over recent years — scoring goals and defensive indiscipline.

Boaz Solossa, the Super League’s leading scorer, was dropped from the squad after failing to turn up for training.

Instead, Bambang Pamungkas, the nice guy of Indonesian football, will likely be partnered with Christian Gonzales, who got his Indonesian citizenship just days before the lineups had to be submitted and has scored three goals in two games.

Yongki Aribowo represents the future. The young Arema Indonesia striker is good on the ground and uses his upper body strength well to hold the ball and find space.

The defense remains an issue. Indonesia has frequently been caught napping at dead-ball situations, and the last AFF Cup tournament saw Thailand and Singapore win by exploiting this tardiness.

You can be sure Riedl has identified this problem, and in the last friendly against Taiwan he went with Hamkah Hamza and M Robby.

Other teams’ preparations haven’t been much better. The Thai management would have been biting their fingernails all through Sunday knowing a significant number of their squad were taking part in the country’s cup final and praying there would be no serious injuries.

Players from Muang Thong United and Chonburi have gone head-to-head practically all season domestically, and some bright wag at the Thai FA thought it would be a great wheeze to schedule the cup final just 24 hours before the national team had to meet up before heading to Jakarta.

In more bad news for the Thais, the hugely talented goalkeeper, Kawin Thamasatchanan, will be missing after hurting his hand during the title run in.

And while Indonesia has been bemoaning the lack of quality opponents, Thai coach Bryan Robson has had it even worse.

With a cluttered season reaching its climax only in the last couple of weeks, the Englishman has been unable to organize any friendlies since September.

Unlike Indonesia, Thailand has a proud record in the AFF Cup having won it three times.

But Thai fans are just as unforgiving as Indonesians; witness the outpouring of shock and horror after they failed to win last year’s SEA Games; so the reaction on the streets of Bangkok should they fail can be imagined.

But a reality check. The Thais have been runners-up in the last two competitions and haven’t won it since 2002.

Laos goes into the group stage in Jakarta with little known about the team. Coached by another Englishman, Dave Booth, it lost a friendly to Singapore 4-0 last week.

Laos reached the group stage after defeating East Timor 6-1 in the qualifying round, a record victory for the team, but knowing that Jakarta was where they received their heaviest ever defeat, 15-0 against the short-lived United Arab Republic.

Despite being the minnow of the group Laos will fear no one, especially after its under-23 team defeated Indonesia at last year’s SEA Games.

Malaysia completes the bracket for the Jakarta bracket and perhaps poses the biggest threat to the ambitions of both Thailand and Indonesia.

It won the SEA Games last year and has been putting together a team built around that successful campaign.

The Thais will go into the competition as favorites. On their day, they are virtually unplayable as they knock the ball around comfortably and move around the pitch with ease.

If there is a question mark over the Thais, it is scoring goals. Teerathep Winotai has struggled to find the form that saw him move to Belgium last year and returned to Thailand with champion Muang Thong United.

His woes continued and he is now on loan to BEC Tero Sasana.

Given the struggles to score, it is strange that the Thai coach has not looked to another striker at BEC Tero, Anon Songsanoi, who has had three very successful seasons at club level but has been all but ignored by the national team.

Malaysia is the team to watch. It plays Indonesia in the first game on Wednesday and if Indonesia is to progress to the next stage then this is a must-win game.

For Indonesia, the Gonzalez factor could well be key, while the Thais need to turn that possession into goals or they could be taking an early exit.

Whatever happens, it promises to be an exciting competition.