Indonesians chase Venglos

The Indonesian Football Association are attempting to lure former Celtic and Aston Villa coach Dr Jozef Venglos to the South East Asian nation.

Venglos, who has extensive experience of Asia having worked in the United Arab Emriates and Malaysia, is top of the Indonesians wanted list ahead of September’s South East Asian Games, to be hosted in Kuala Lumpur.

“We’ve talked to the AFC about bringing him in,” said PSSI general secretary Tri Goestoro. “We haven’t talked to Venglos yet but we’re very interested in him.”

Venglos has worked closely with the AFC on numerous occasions, operating on several techincal committees as well as heading up coaching courses for the confederation.

Goestoro said it would be too late to bring in the Czech coach for the nation’s World Cup qualifying campaign, which will kick off in April against China, the Maldives and Cambodia.

Benny Dollo, who took over at the start of the year, will remain in charge of the full national team while Venglos has been targeted for the SEA Games side, effectively Indonesia’s Under 23 team.

This year’s SEA Games will be the first to be played by teams under the age of 23 after a directive issued by the Asian Football Confederation decreed that all football tournaments held as part of a multi-sport event must be played by age-group players.

from AFC Website