B

oth the Indonesian national soccer team and David Beckham’s LA Galaxy declared their aspirations for triumph at Wednesday’s friendly match at Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta.

“We want to win the game; it’s as simple as that. We know it’s going to be difficult. I have heard that Indonesia has talented young players, but we are excited and want to win the game,” said David Beckham, the former English national captain and Manchester United star winger, at press conference in Jakarta on Monday.

Beckham, along with the 27-strong LA Galaxy squad and head coach Bruce Arena, arrived in Jakarta on Monday morning. Jakarta is the first stop in the Galaxy’s Asia Pacific Tour, which includes friendlies in Manila on Dec. 3 and in Melbourne on Dec. 6.

“This is not my first time here, as I have been on holiday here, but [it is my] first time to play. We hope the cheers on Wednesday will be for us,” said Beckham, who, with the club’s other stars Robbie Keane and Landon Donovan, won the Major League Soccer (MLS) cup in the United States.

Earlier, the media reported that activities at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, eased momentarily with the arrival of English soccer player Beckham on Monday morning.

However, Beckham, who wore a black shirt and was surrounded by six bodyguards, was only seen briefly and did not greet fans.

Beckham was also immediately taken to a minibus provided by the steering committee welcoming him after he arrived at Gate 2D, a deliberate move to avoid fans who were waiting to greet the world-class soccer player.

On the other side, the Indonesian squad consists of a mix of 20 national players from the senior team and nine rising stars of the U23 squad, who recently won silver medals at the 26th SEA Games in Jakarta.

Among the selected Indonesian players are Bambang Pamungkas, Nigeria-born Greg Nwokolo, Zulkilfi Syukur, Moh. Ilham and juniors Hasim Kipuw and Gunawan Dwi Cahyo. The match will not see play from bombers Titus Bonai and Boas Salossa, as they are preparing for their team Persipura Jayapura’s Indonesian Super League (ISL) season-opening match against Persiba Balikpapan on Dec. 1.

Indonesian U-23 head coach Rahmad Darmawan, in charge of preparing the national selection squad, encouraged optimism and a fighting spirit for his team.

“It might only be a friendly match, but I always encourage my team to play to win. This is our opportunity to gauge our level of play. There will be no special strategy for the friendly. With the youthful stamina of our young guns and the experience of our senior players, I hope to create a great match-up. Hopefully, they will play wholeheartedly,” Rahmad said.

The friendly match kicks off at 7 p.m. on Wednesday and will be broadcast by SCTV. As many as 76,000 tickets have been made available by Mahaka Sports, with a starting price of Rp 75,000