Australian Danny Allsopp, left, fight for the ball with Indonesian Hariono, right, during AFC Asian Cup 2011 qualifiers Group B at Gelora Bung Karno in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, Jan 28, 2009. AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim
Speculation has been rife about Australia boss Pim Verbeek’s plans for Wednesday’s AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Indonesia but the Socceroos’ opponents have seldom been discussed. But let’s be honest, it is hard to know a lot about the team ranked 136th in the world.
Nevertheless, the Indonesian story is quite an interesting little subplot ahead of the clash at Suncorp Stadium.
Indonesia, of course, are out of contention for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup and have little to play for in Brisbane. And as they’re widely expected to lose the game, from afar, it is hard to see any extra motivation.
Speaking to the Jakarta Globe last week, Indonesia manager Benny Dollo conceded: “I’ll consider it a decent result if we do not lose to them.”
But Jakarta-based striker Bambang Pamungkas (Indonesia’s all-time top scorer and most capped player) countered: “The result is not important anymore for our team, but the game is very important.
“It’s the first time since 1996 that we’re not going to play in the Asian Cup, so the pressure is on the team.
“We cannot qualify … but we’ll make sure it’s not going to be an easy game for Australia.”
Whether or not Indonesia have the quality to do more than just not making it easy for the Socceroos remains to be seen.
But Bambang’s comments hint that the players feel they have something to prove to the Indonesian public who’ve been disappointed by their failed campaign.
Just last week I was over in Indonesia although I can’t claim to have been there in pursuit of journalistic research, but rather doing the tourist thing in Bali.
Still I regularly took the opportunity to speak with the locals about their impressions of the national side and consistently discovered a lack of fondness for the current team.
And make no mistake, Indonesians love their football, but it appeared they prefer keeping tabs on European football rather than the success of their own national team, Merah Putih. I sensed there was little faith in them.
Indeed, for Bambang and his teammates, grabbing a result in Australia would go some way to proving their doubters wrong.
And the boss Dollo, who will be replaced after this game by Abdurrahman Gurning, doesn’t appear ready to roll over and offer up the three points just yet.
There had been a school of thought in Indonesia that Dollo would take the opportunity of the dead rubber to give some international exposure to some younger players against the Socceroos.
But Dollo wasn’t interested, stating: “If I bring them in and then they lose big against Australia, the public would criticize them. And that won’t be good for their future.”
And as Tony Tannous explained in his piece yesterday, Indonesia haven’t had the worst qualifying campaign with a pair of narrow losses combined with three draws.
By no means has it been a disastrous campaign but Dollo has been found wanting at times and the team hasn’t been able to score the goals which win matches.
Interestingly, Dollo’s contract has not been renewed in the wake of this, combined with his failure to claim the 2008 AFF Suzuki Cup which he claimed they could as co-hosts.
But ahead of Wednesday’s clash (Dollo’s last game in charge of Medah Putih), in Indonesia’s favour is the fact they boast a side who’ve played regularly together whereas Australia’s A-League Roos team has been thrown together without much notice.
Nevertheless, Indonesia’s preparations for the match haven’t been ideal.
Assistant manager Chandra Solehan revealed: “Initially we had an agenda of one trial match with a local club before the game with the Australian national team, but time is limited so we cancelled.”
The Indonesian squad actually flew out from Jakarta bound for Brisbane on late Friday evening.
Historically speaking, the odds are stacked against the visitors too, having only defeated Australia once in 14 encounters, that win coming back in 1982 in Surabaya.
Of those 14 meetings, Australia have won 10 times, but those expecting a walkover in Brisbane will be in for a shock.
But Bambang acknowledges: “Here it will be a lot more difficult for us, but nothing is impossible in football.”
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