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Indonesia against Brunei in opener
Niken Prathivi , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 08/21/2008 10:25 AM | Sports
Indonesia's under-21 soccer team will be favorites to beat Brunei Darussalam in the opening match of the 2008 Pertamina Independence Cup at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on Thursday.
Brunei team manager Waslimin Momin acknowledged his squad was the underdog in the tournament.
"It's quite demanding for us to compete against all these teams. Although we only had three months to prepare, we will do our best," he said, adding he set no winning target for the event.
Indonesia coach Bambang Nurdiansyah was confident of a victory over the less experienced Brunei team.
"The Brunei team sent its senior players, while ours are the under-21s. But they still can't match us in terms of skill," he said.
The eighth edition of the Cup, held to coincide with Indonesia's 63rd independence anniversary, offers US$63,000 in prize money. The last Cup was held in Jakarta in 2000.
Four national teams from Brunei, Cambodia, Libya and Myanmar, and two teams from Indonesia, are taking part in the tournament, which also serves as a warm-up ahead of the Asian Football Federation's (AFF) Suzuki Cup in December, the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers in January 2009, and the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Laos next year.
Thursday's match between Indonesia and Brunei will kick off at 6.30 p.m. Myanmar will then take on Libya at 9.15 p.m.
Libya head coach Gamal Abdeen M Abu-Nowara said he was bringing young players to the tournament.
"It's great to play. With good young players in our team, hopefully we can play well and give a good performance," he said.
Indonesian Football Association secretary-general Nugraha Besoes said Libya and Myanmar would be the teams to beat in the tournament, which is sanctioned by FIFA.
The nine-day tournament will end on August 29. Some 56,000 tickets will be available for each match, with prices ranging between Rp 25,000 and Rp 100,000 per ticket.
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