The competitions aim to improve the performance of the country`s soccer players under the local and foreign coaches.
As a step toward ensuring better performance, Indonesia named Luis Milla of Spain as the coach of its national football team after agreeing to a two-year contract with him.
The 50-year-old coach was introduced by PSSI to the public during a press conference, Friday afternoon (Jan 20, 2017).
"As a coach, I think he has a lot of good qualities," Danurwindo, PSSI`s technical director for the national team, stated.
Milla`s experience as a player for both Barcelona and Real Madrid, as well as his role in making the Spanish under 21 national team the best in Europe in 2011, should guide our senior national team and the under 22 team to success in the Southeast Asian Games this year and the Asian Games in 2018, said Danurwindo.
Milla is expected to coach Indonesian players on how to play intelligently and apply pressure against the opposition to make up for their lack of physical stature.
"He is good at understanding the game, teaching important skills and applying tactics," added Danurwindo.
Milla stated that he was glad that he could coach the Indonesian national team and hoped for support from the whole nation to form a good team that could compete at the international level.
In addition to this, PSSI also made efforts to develop the quality of its national-level coaches by training 22 coaches through an instructor training course at the National Youth Training Centre (NYTC).
The NYTC was held from April 24 to May 5, 2017, in the West Java city of Depok, which shares a border with Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia.
The first-ever instructor training course led by Vincent Subramaniam from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) was, among others, aimed at overcoming the underdevelopment of Indonesian football performances.
"This course was aimed at overcoming the underdevelopment of Indonesian football. In this course, 22 best coaches in Indonesia trained to become instructors, who can yield new trainers in Indonesia," Joko Driyono, Deputy General Chairman concurrently acting Secretary General of PSSI, explained, Monday.
Indra Sjafri, coach of the U-19 national soccer team, Fakhri Husaini, coach of the U-16, Wolfgang Pikal, former assistant to coach of the senior national team, Widodo Cahyono Putro, former coach of Sriwijaya FC, Mustaqim, Mundari Karya, Sutan Harhara, Satia Bagdja Ijatna, Kibnu Harto Slamet, Danan Jaya, M Nasir, Safei Pylly, Hanafing, Ibnu Grahan, Maman Suryaman, Robby Maruanaya, Yudi Suryata, Deny Syamsudin, Syafrianto, Jessie Mustamu, Eddy Simon Badawi and Bambang Nurdiansyah participated in the instructor training course.
The PSSI further expressed hope that the 22 instructors would later design and implement national coaching programs or curricula with a uniform philosophy and vision throughout Indonesia.
In the meantime, Danurwindo explained that this kind of training was meant for coaches with "A" AFC license.
Prior to playing against foreign teams, PSSI held the President`s Cup tournament 2017, in which several clubs participated.
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) congratulated Arema Malang FC which defeated Pusamania Borneo FC 5-1 in the final of President Cup II 2017 national soccer championship, Sunday night (March 12).
Jokowi expressed hope that the President`s Cup tournament would be a turning point in developing Indonesian soccer.
On the occasion, the president also thanked the PSSI for the success of the 2017 President`s Cup.
"Congratulations on the victory of Arema," the president remarked after watching the 2017 President`s Cup final match between Arema Malang and Pusamania Borneo FC (PBFC) teams in Cibonong`s Pakansari Stadium, Bogor District.
In the 2017 President`s Cup final, Arema FC crushed PBFC 5-1, thanks to the wonderful performance of Cristian Gonzales (40).
Arema`s striker Cristian Gonzales scored three goals in the 42nd, 52nd and 63rd minute.
The other two goals were netted by Sjahbandi Hanif at the 30th minute, followed by an own goal by Michael Orah at the 37th minute. The only goal for PBFC was scored by Filry Apriansyah at the 68th minute.
In the meantime, the soccer teams of Persib Bandung and Arema FC that played the initial match of Indonesia`s highest football competition level of Liga 1 (one) in Bandung, West Java, shared a 0-0 scoreline.
The match was held at the Bandung Lautan Api (GBLA) stadium, Saturday evening.
A total of 18 soccer teams participated in the Liga 1 competition.
They were Arema FC, Bali United, Barito Putera, Persegres Gresik, Madura United, Mitra Kukar, Persela Lamongan, Perseru Serui, Persib Bandung, Persiba Balikpapan, Persija Jakarta, Persipura Jayapura, PS TNI, PSM Makassar, Pusamania Borneo, Semen Padang and Sriwijaya FC.
PSSI used the Liga 1 to replace the previous Indonesian Super League for the first level of the national soccer competition.
Bhayangkara FC emerged as the winner of the Liga 1 competition, popularly called as Gojek Traveloka Liga 1 2017, for which Giovanni Vincenzo Infantino, President of Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), congratulated the Bhayangkara FC squad.
On the other hand, the soccer championship of the `Liga Santri Nusantara (LSN) 2017` or soccer league of the national Islamic Boarding School Students was also successfully carried out.
The LSN has the potential to produce national football players in the future, the youth and sports affairs minister Imam Nahrawi, who represented President Jokowi, said in his remarks at the closing ceremony of the soccer event.
The LSN closing ceremony took place in the Bandung Lautan Api (GBLH) sports stadium.
"It is a necessity to create a great player. The government will support wholeheartedly; I will personally do the same, because I am an alumnus of an Islamic Boarding School students or santri," Nahrawi stressed.
Citing an example, the minister said that Muhamad Rafli (santri) had become one of the U-19 national team players under chief coach Indra Sjafri, adding that previously Rafli was one of the players who participated in the LSN.
A total of 32 soccer teams representing 34 provinces in Indonesia competed in the LSN, which was held from Oct 23 to 29, 2017.
Apart from that, the Indonesian national soccer team ranked fifth out of 48 participating countries at the Homeless World Cup (HWC) 2017, after beating Portugal 6-5 in Oslo City Hall, Norway, Tuesday (Sept 5).
This is higher than the seventh rank achieved by the team when the match took place in Scotland last year.
The highest rank ever reached by the Indonesian team was fourth, when the event took place in Mexico in 2012.
In the meantime, Yuwono A. Putranto, Indonesian ambassador to the Kingdom of Norway and the Republic of Iceland, who witnessed the match between the Indonesian team and Portugal, expressed gratitude for the achievement.
Although it ranked only fifth, the struggle of the national team should be appreciated, the envoy stated.
In December this year, the Indonesian team also took part in the Aceh World Solidarity (AWS) international tournament, which was held in the Harapan Bangsa stadium, in Lhong Raya area, Aceh Province on Saturday afternoon (Dec 2), but the national team failed. Kyrgyz soccer teams won the AWS tournament.
(B003/INE/B003)
EDITED BY INE
(T.SYS/A/KR-BSR/B003)
Reporter: Bustanuddin
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2017
