Benny Dollo, the new Indonesian National Team Head Coach

The question on who's going to be the next boss of the Red-and-White Squad, or whether it's going to be foreign or local, has been answered. After being postponed several days, FAI (Football Association of Indonesia) finally announced that Persita Tangerang's head coach, Benny Dollo, has been selected as Indonesian national team head coach for 2002 World Cup - Asian Quliafiers. Irawadi Hanafi, meanwhile, has been trusted as the team's manager.

For the Qualifiers, Benny will have Mundari Karya as his assistant and Arjuna Rinaldi as his coach for goalkeepers. Mundari Karya is currently the head coach of Barito Putra, while Arjuna Rinaldi is the goalkeepers' coach of Persija Jakarta.

Persita Tangerang and Persija Jakarta are the current top two teams in the Western Conference of Indonesian League, while Barito Putra leads the Eastern Conference.

Benny's presence as the national team's head coach, however, is only planned for the World Cup qualifying matches. That's because for SEA (South-East Asia) Games XXI in Malaysia later this year and other events after that, FAI is planning to hire a foreign coach.

Tri Goestoro, FAI's General Secretary, said, "We have trusted Benny Dollo to manage the team for the World Cup qualifying matches. But for SEA Games XXI, Benny will be the assistant to a foreign coach that we're planning to hire."

Regarding Benny's status in Persita, Tri explained that there's no more problem even though his contract with the club is not up for another two years. The same situation also applies to the two assistants with their respective clubs.

The only assistant that's not yet determined is the fitness coach. Nominated names for this position are Pieter Panggabean, Tahir Djide, and Satia Bagja.

"We haven't decided who the fitness coach is because none of the three men has agreed with the terms just yet. But be assured that it'll be done soon," said Tri.

National team training center, Tri continued, will start on March 19, 2001. According to him, there are already about 30 players nominated for the Red and White Squad, and the list is not final yet. Generally speaking, many of the players to be called are young players. Tri said that the national players who competed in 1999 SEA Games, 2000 Asian Cup in Lebanon, and 2000 Tiger Cup in Thailand have maxed out their abilities and will be hard to improve. That's why the new bloods will be injected to the team so that the regeneration process will carry on naturally.

Some of the youngsters hotly-tipped to be in the national team are Budi Sudarsono (below left) of Persija Jakarta, league's leading scorer at the moment, and Rahel Tuasalamony (below right) of Persebaya Surabaya, a talented 17-year-old winger who has contributed 5 goals for his team from 9 appearances. If both were selected, then it'll be their first caps ever for the national team.

Benny himself said that the three-week time given for a centralized players' training is not enough.

"That's why we have to make the best out of this short time. This is definitely a problem for me, especially remembering that we will go up against China, one of the best teams in Asia," said the newly-appointed head coach.

from Media Indonesia and other various sources