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RI eager to avenge Asiad loss to Syria
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Fri, 11/09/2007 5:27 PM
Matheos Viktor Messakh, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia is banking on better preparation to avoid a repeat of its loss to Syria at the 2006 Doha Asian Games during their 2010 World Cup pre-qualifying match here on Friday.
""The players are in their best form for the match,"" national team assistant coach Syamsuddin Umar said Thursday, adding that the team only had one friendly in the past two weeks.
Indonesia, ranked 125th by world soccer authority FIFA, fell to Syria 4-1 in Doha in December.
Umar said the team has learned from the video of Syria's matches against Afghanistan and Iran.
""Syrian players tend to be very offensive, but once they miss the ball they immediately turn defensive. To overcome this, we will rely on player's individual skills and tell them to cross the ball.
""Basically, their type of playing is 3-5-2 but they can move into 1-4-5 when they are under pressure.""
Syria's head of delegation Tajjudin Fairuz said his team did not have enough time to prepare for the match because he was not told about it by the Asian Football Confederation until Nov. 2.
""We received the information about the match in Indonesia just a week after coming back from Tajikistan. We've barely been able to prepare for the match. The only preparation was the immigration process to travel here,"" he said.
Syria, ranked 126th by FIFA, reached the second round of World Cup pre-qualifying after defeating Afghanistan 2-1 in Damascus and 2-0 in Tajikistan. Meanwhile, Indonesia got a free ticket after Guam's withdrawal.
""Indonesia is a very good team with good players, good ability. It's a fast team. We played against Indonesia in Doha and we won but I think we can't expect the same result here,"" Fairuz said.
He also hinted that Jakarta's hot humid weather might be a hindrance to his players.
""We had a problem with the weather when playing at the Nehru Cup in India ... and it might be a problem for us here, too. As you know, Syria is quite cold. But here it's so warm and humid.""
In Friday's match Indonesia will also count on die-hard football fans -- hundreds of whom protested angrily outside the PSSI office in Senayan over ticket sales confusion.
After waiting for hours to purchase Rp 80,000 tickets to Friday's match, fans were disappointed to hear PSSI officials say that none would available until Friday at 10 a.m.
PSSI earlier announced it would open four ticket counters at the stadium on Thursday.
Fans burned a PSSI flag before police officers arrived and dispersed them.
The match will kick off at 7:30 p.m. and will be broadcast live by TPI.
