courtesy www.aseanfootball.com

INDONS SIGNAL INTENTIONS BY HIRING IRANIAN COACH

Kuantan (Malaysia), June 30 - The hiring of an Iranian coach is the strongest suggestion that Indonesia are taking their futsal ambitions seriously and that is likely to be to the detriment of the Philippines when they meet in their first match of the Asean Futsal Championship at the Sukpa Stadium here tomorrow.

Salleh Naser was formerly coach of the Iranian futsal team. Iran are the Asian champions and one of the stronger teams in the world.

The Indonesian team is the same team that played in the KL World 5s, a world invitational event that was held in Kuala Lumpur in early June. On returning to Jakarta, the team continued training but under a new coach in Salleh Naser.

Philippines have probably sent their best prepared team ever to an international futsal event. They started training four months ago but the final squad of 10 trained together for a month.

PRE-MATH COMMENTS

Sugiadi Waluyo, Indonesian manager: "Except for one player, this team is the same as the one that played in the KL World 5s. The players have the benefit of a strong coach in Salleh Naser. How much they have gained, we will see."

Joaquin Preysler, Philippines manager: "The coaches and the boys have dedicated a lot of time to doing well. They have more heart for this tournament and want to give a good acoount of themselves."