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A cold breeze greeted the new-look national team as the players arrived in Manama, Bahrain, on Sunday morning for their 2014 World Cup qualifier with Indonesia playing only for pride.

The match against Bahrain on Wednesday will be both teams’ last in Group E of the Asia zone’s third qualifying round, with nothing at stake for Indonesia.

Whatever the result, Indonesia won’t advance to the fourth round after losing all previous five games in the group, sitting at the bottom of the standings without even a point.

Meanwhile Bahrain, third in the group of four with six points, needs a win while hoping that Qatar falls against already-qualified Iran in Tehran. Only the top two teams in each of five groups in Asian qualifiers will go to the fourth round.

For the Merah Putih and new coach Aji Santoso, pride is the only thing at stake when they step onto the pitch on Wednesday.

However, even avoiding a huge loss could be a tall task, as most of the nation’s top players were left out of the squad since they chose to play in the breakaway Indonesian Super League.

The internal conflict at the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI), which has been going on for more than a year, has left the country’s football divided into two competing leagues — the ISL and the officially sanctioned Indonesian Premier League.

PSSI, with backing from world football’s governing body FIFA, announced in December that players in the ISL would be ineligible to play for the national team.

Since top players such as Feri Rotinsulu, Bambang Pamungkas, Firman Utina and Boaz Solossa are all playing in the ISL, PSSI gave Aji a huge task in rebuilding the national squad with players from IPL clubs only.

Aji was actually appointed as the Under-23 national team coach to replace Rahmad Darmawan in January, however PSSI asked him to temporarily oversee the senior national team after moving former coach Wim Rijsbergen to a technical director role.

PSSI said the new senior team coach will likely be picked after the match in Bahrain.

“I must say that we don’t have ideal preparation to face Bahrain,” Aji said before the team left for Manama. “We’ve been only training together since February 16.”

Aji took 18 players to Bahrain, with only goalkeeper Samsidar, defender Wahyu Wijiastanto and strikers Irfan Bachdim, Ferdinand Sinaga and Samsul Arif having played on the previous squad. Defenders Diego Michiels and Gunawan Dwi Cahyo are the only two other players who have caps for the national team.

With limited training time and a lack of experience, the team fell 1-0 to domestic club Persebaya Surabaya on Friday in a friendly — the team’s only warm-up match before going to Bahrain.

“This is the best squad we have for now. They are still young and have a promising future,” Aji said. “It will be hard to get results in Bahrain, but a draw is still feasible.”

For the new players, wearing the red-and-white jersey is still a dream come true.

“I’m proud just being called up in the national side,” Persebaya midfielder Taufiq, 25, told news portal Vivanews. “Playing for the national team is every players’ dream, so I’m waiting for my chance to wear the national team jersey on Wednesday.”

Indonesia squad:

Goalkeepers: Samsidar (Semen Padang FC), Andi Muhammad Guntur (PSM Makassar)

Defenders: Abdurrahman (Semen Padang), Hengky Ardiles (Semen Padang), Gunawan Dwi Cahyo (Arema Malang), Sigit Meiko (Persibo Bojonegoro), Wahyu Wijiastanto (Persiba Bantul), Diego Michiels (Persija Jakarta)

Midfielders: Ricky Akbar Ohorella (Semen Padang), Aditya Putra Dewa (PSM), Taufiq (Persebaya Surabaya), Rendi Irawan (Persebaya), Slamet Nurcahyo (Persiba), Rasul Zainuddin (PSM), Abdul Rahman (Madiun Putra)

Forwards: Irfan Bachdim (Persema Malang), Ferdinand Sinaga (Semen Padang), Samsul Arif (Persibo)