A Dream Of Making The Semifinals

When PSM first played in the Asian Champions Cup, it was in 1996 to replace the league champions Bandung Raya. They had a bad luck of running into giants Pohang Atoms of South Korea in the first round. They did manage a win of 1-0 in the Mattoangin Stadium in Makassar, but lost away 0-4.

But now the wind has turned the other way. The Juku Eja ("the Red Fish") are losers no more. They made it to the last eight of the competition and became the only survivor from Southeast Asia.

Joseph Lewono and friends are now even trying to make a new history, advancing to the semifinals. If that happens, then it's going to be a new chapter in the long history of PSM and national team.

Can they? It'll be interesting to see, because for the semifinals, PSM is surrounded by three Asian giants, Suwon Samsung Blue Wings (South Korea), Jubilo Iwata (Japan), and Shandong (China).

"From quality point-of-view, those teams may be two or even three times higher than us. But don't forget, we have the advantage of playing in front of our own public," said Kadir Halid, PSM's team manager.

PSM was really eager to host the event, because they realized they're outclassed. AFC (Asian Football Confederation) complied and gave the honor of hosting the eastern zonal semifinals of Asian Champions Cup, which are scheduled to be played in Mattoangin Stadium on March 21-25.

"With the advantage of being a host, the target of making the semifinal is pretty realistic. It may be hard to become group champions, but a runner-up is good enough to get us out and into the semifinals. To make it to the final is still a dream," said Kadir firmly.

Of course, PSM will not only depend on fans' support. Hendro Kartiko, team's goalie, said, "This year, PSM has come out with a better formation and composition. But teamwork and understanding have always to be nurtured. Without a conducive situation, it'll be hard to achieve all our targets."

Even though still looking for the best formation because there are some new faces coming in, head coach Syamsuddin Umar surely already has the definite starting players in his pocket, as a result of the team's tour in Java. He shouldn't have too many problems anyway since the quality of the players are almost equal throughout.

"I really have to be wise in using and conserving our strengths, because our concentration will be divided between the league and the Asian Champions Cup. PSM is not planning on borrowing players from other teams anymore, like we did last year," said Syam. Good luck, PSM!

source: BolaNews Sportsline