Benny Dollo: Hard to pick 'starters'

April 1, 2001

Twenty-five players have selected our of thirty-four to be in the national squad. The following is an interview between head coach Benny Dollo and a correspondent from Media Indonesia.

What are your criterions in selecting the players?

The players whom I crossed out are not by any means less skillful than the ones I picked. I called up 34 players but we only need 25, so the rest has to be left out for the moment.

What about the crossed-out players, are they satisfied with your choices?

I think all the players understand and willingly accept this decision. This is a consequence of a competition. But we have to admit the 34 players we called up are the best there in Indonesia right now. There's about an equal number of juniors and seniors in the squad.

Before, you wanted to include as many seniors as possible. Why the change?

I purposely chose to have a balanced number between juniors and seniors after a very careful thought and after all things considered.

But don't you agree that for the World Cup qualifiers we need the more experienced players?

I want to complete several tasks at once. With the inclusion of these junior players, they'll be more exposed to football at international level so that in the future they will have an easier time in events such as SEA Games.

Is there any possibility to the players left out to be called back to the national squad?

Very possible. But maybe not for the World Cup qualifiers. I will form a shadow team consisting of 18 youth players, but this will be taken care by FAI's technical director. In that department, we have famous names and excellent coaches such as Ronny Pattinasarany, Yoppy Leipel, and Tumpa Sihite.

For what purpose?

This shadow team will be the second-string of the national team, the B national team, especially for SEA Games later this year.

According to you, what's so special about the young players you included in the squad?

We should not underestimate all these youths. Most of them are first-team players in their respective clubs. Just to name a few are Budi Sudarsono, Maman, Isnan, Sunar Sulaiman, Firman Utina, and Achmad Kurniawan. Budi is even the league's current top scorer.

What do you think about Indonesia's chance in the qualifiers?

China is our biggest obstacle. Without underestimating Cambodia and Maldives, I think we'll be able to hand both of them, as long as we're not careless.

Who do you think will be starters?

That's a hard question because everybody has equal chance. At the post, Hendro Kartiko and I Komang Putra have equal qualities. In defense, Sugiantoro, Eko Purjianto, and Aples Tecuari will have some competitions from Warsidi, Ronny Ririn, Supriyono, or even Sunar Sulaiman. In midfield and forward, the composition is pretty much balanced.

Last question, what do you expect from this team?

I want this team to have high fighting spirit even though they'll face a higher-class team like China. I will stress the never-give-up attitude in every player, along with more understanding among them.

from Media Indonesia