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Merah Putih Turn to Youth With 2014 Dream Gone
Wimbo Satwiko | February 08, 2012

No cigar. Footballer Cristian Gonzales lies in despair after Indonesia No cigar. Footballer Cristian Gonzales lies in despair after Indonesia's 3-2 loss to Qatar in a 2014 World Cup qualifier at Gelora Bung Karno in South Jakarta. Merah Putih are winless after three matches. (JG Photo/Afriadi Hikmal)
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When Indonesia plays its final 2014 World Cup qualifier at Bahrain on Feb. 29, the occasion will be little more than a formality.

Losses in its first five matches have left it rooted to the bottom of Group E with no chance of advancing to the fourth round. The best it can do is spoil Bahrain’s hopes of overhauling Qatar for second place.

As such, new coach Aji Santoso has called up several fresh faces into the squad as he tries to introduce a new generation to international football.

“Most of the players in the selection are young players with no experience. Some of them even are not in the first team at their respective clubs. That’s my main obstacle in the training camp, and it may be hard to deliver good results in the near future,” he said on Wednesday.

Aji called up 30 Indonesian Premier League players for a tryout in Sentul, West Java, at the end of January. He is expected to pick about 11 players to join the 12 already registered with the Asian Football Confederation for World Cup qualifying.

Players already in the team are Irfan Bachdim, Syamsul Arif, Kurnia Meiga, Dendy Santoso, Gunawan Dwi Cahyo, Hendro Siswanto, Irfan Raditya, Ferdinan Sinaga, Abdul Rahman, Wahyu Wijiasnanto and Diego Michiels.

Andik Vermansyah of Persebaya Surabaya was dropped from the squad to allow him to play for the Under-21 national team at the Hasannal Bolkiah Trophy in Brunei from Feb. 25 to March 5.

“[Andik] won’t travel with us to Bahrain as we want him to focus on the Under-21 team. We already have no chance to qualify for Brazil, so it’s better for him to play with the Under-21 team,” Aji said.

The Hasannal Bolkiah Trophy is a U-21 event featuring all 11 Asean nations.

Aji took charge of the national team after the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) moved former coach Wim Rijsbergen to a technical director position.

Former Under-23 team coach Rahmad Darmawan turned down the chance to lead the senior team, complaining that he could not call up the country’s best players, many of whom are in the breakaway Indonesian Super League.