D

espite the dismal state of Indonesian soccer, youngsters keep believing in their dreams of becoming the country's great footballers.

"It was such a blissful moment when I was able to shake hands with *legendary French player* Zinedine Zidane last year," said 13-year-old Rhesaldo Sabiq Ramadani.

Aldo, as he is popularly known, played in for Indonesia as a defender during the 2008 world final of the Danone Nations Cup in France.

"That really motivates me to keep practicing my soccer skills," he said on the sidelines of a media conference for the Danone Nations Cup Indonesia in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Aldo, who has been playing soccer since he was 7, wants to be a famous soccer player someday, and is currently preparing for the July national selection for the Yamaha Cup soccer tournament in Japan.

The Nations Cup is an international soccer festival for children that many regard as the World Cup soccer championship for kids, with 3 million of them worldwide involved in the event.

More than 30,000 children from 2,500 teams are vying for the top place in the Indonesian qualifications to represent the country in the next world finals of the Danone Nations Cup in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The participants have doubled in number from last year, which saw players from 1,194 teams from across the archipelago take part.

"Participation in this event is not just about winning, but also developing a sense of fair play and cooperation," said Baskorohadi Sukatmo, brand director of Danone Aqua, the tournament sponsor in Indonesia since 2003.

National qualifications will be held in June and July in 12 cities and regions: Papua, Makassar, Aceh, Yogyakarta, Bali, Semarang, Bandung, Surabaya, Medan, Banten, Padang and Jakarta.

The final will take place from Aug. 1-2 at Soemantri Brojonegoro Stadium in Kuningan, South Jakarta, with the winner winning a trip to Brazil for the world finals from Oct. 23-25.

The world finals will feature teams from 40 countries.

The Danone Nations Cup was first held in 2000, then with only eight countries participating.

Indonesia's best achievement so far was in 2006, when it finished fourth and was named the team with the best defense. The team conceded only one goal in all its matches.

In 2005, Indonesian also won the best attacking team, scoring the most goals (24) in the competition.

"We hope the Indonesian team can improve this year and get into the top five. These youngsters are assets for the nation's footballing future," said sports ministry representative James Tangkudung.