National team U-23 to depart early for Turkmenistan

National football team U-23 plans to depart early for Turkmenistan in order to give more time for players for acclimatization, team official Iman Arif said on Saturday.

Iman said that Indonesian footballers should expect colder temperatures in Turkmenistan.

“The temperature can reach zero degrees Celsius,” said Iman, as quoted by kompas.com.

Iman said Indonesian footballers need to work harder to beat host Turkmenistan in the second leg of a pre-Olympic match after the red-and-white team was humbled 1-3 by Turkmenistan at Jakabaring stadium in Palembang on Wednesday.

Assistant coach Wolfgang Pikal said “we’ve planned to depart early, at least four or five days before the match. Unfortunately, we haven’t got the air tickets until today,” Pikal said after the team’s drill in Senayan sports complex.