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What strike? No one tells me anything: Rijsbergen
National soccer coach Wim Rijsbergen has been in the eye of the storm after Indonesia recently lost the first two World Cup qualifiers to Bahrain and Iran
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em>National soccer coach Wim Rijsbergen has been in the eye of the storm after Indonesia recently lost the first two World Cup qualifiers to Bahrain and Iran. Seven of his players are on strike, the PSSI has summoned him to explain some of his harsh words in the media following the latest defeat and officials are contemplating bringing in the U-23 for the remaining four WC pre-qualifying matches. In his first interview after the disastrous 2-0 loss to Bahrain in GBK on Sept. 6th, Rijsbergen seemed first and foremost surprised about the commotion. Here are excerpt from Rijsbergen’s interview with Thijs Plug, a contributor to The Jakarta Post conducted over the phone on Wednesday.
Question: What is your opinion about the strike?
Answer: What strike?
Seven players refuse to play as long as you are in charge of the first team. Is that so?
This is the first I’ve heard of it. No one called me; they never do. You know, I came into this job five days before the Turkmenistan match. The players were far from fit. They had supposedly been in training for weeks, but nothing had been done. But I accepted the situation and went to work. I tried to make them better; I protected them against the media; I stood up for these boys. If their reaction now is to go on strike ... well, that is disappointing.
The strike seems to be related to something you said during halftime at the Bahrain game. Can you repeat you words?
I was honest. I always am. I told some players that they weren’t sticking to the game plan. The goals are a direct result of the fact that some players were ignoring their tasks. Of course I call them on that.
That’s my job. The problem with some of these boys is that they can’t handle criticism; they can’t handle the truth. A lot of the problems with this team are mental. We’re talking about players here who show up for training camps four days late. That’s what I’m working with here.
Why is someone like Boaz Salossa suddenly leaving the team before an important match? Family problems? Yeah right, I find that hard to believe. He just didn’t feel like flying out to Teheran. And what am I supposed to do? Force him to stay?
Useless! I’m stuck with the material I have, can’t even get new players in because there is no league. They expect a lot from me, but there’s hardly any space for me to move in.
Riedl did fine with pretty much the same material.
Look at the teams he had to play. That’s a different level than Iran. Also, from what I heard, Riedl didn’t make his own line-up. PSSI officials did that. But again, that’s what I heard. One thing I do know, it’s one big power game here, and I’m not sure if it’s possible for me to change anything about that.
One of these officials, Bob Hippy, is planning to send the under-23 team to the remaining qualifiers, effectively saying: Rijsbergen is not in control of the team selection anymore.
That’s news to me, too. One would think they would consult me on matters like these, but I guess that’s just not how it goes in this country. That’s the problem here.
These officials, they say a lot, but when push comes to shove their ideas are so watered down that nothing ever happens.
What’s going to be your next move?
I don’t know. Right now I’m in Holland to take care of personal matters. I’m expected back in Indonesia on Oct. 31st, but when I hear all this I don’t know if I have to come back at all. If the PSSI thinks that they can find someone better than me, then I wish them good luck. I will take it as it comes.
