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Soccer friday: New Indonesia coach Huistra waits and hopes as FIFA crisis unfolds

As the newly appointed interim head coach and technical director of Indonesia, former Dutch international Pieter Huistra has one of the toughest jobs in soccer

Jason Dasey (The Jakarta Post)
Fri, May 29, 2015

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Soccer friday: New Indonesia coach Huistra waits and hopes as FIFA crisis unfolds

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s the newly appointed interim head coach and technical director of Indonesia, former Dutch international Pieter Huistra has one of the toughest jobs in soccer.

This week is particularly stressful, as the one-time Glasgow Rangers winger tries to work out what the seismic FIFA scandal means to Southeast Asia'€™s largest soccer nation.

FIFA is supposed to rule on Friday if Indonesia will be handed sanctions '€” including possible expulsion from the world body '€” in the wake of a conflict between the Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI) and the government.

The PSSI has been suspended by the Youth and Sports Ministry, forcing the cancellation earlier this month of the 2015 Indonesia Super League season.

But the latest developments, with 14 people linked to FIFA indicted on corruption charges by US authorities, could buy more time as Indonesian soccer tries to sort itself out.

'€œOf course, it would be good for Indonesia if there'€™s no ban now or in the future,'€ Huistra told ESPN FC. '€œIt will be even better for Indonesia if the people involved can settle their disagreements and start working together because there is a lot of talent here.'€

He arrived in Jakarta in December, midway through the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup after another disappointing performance that saw the Merah Putih eliminated in the group stages under Austrian Alfred Riedl.

48-year-old Huistra will be in charge for Indonesia'€™s opening World Cup qualifying matches away to Chinese Taipei on June 11 and home to Iraq on June 16. But he could stay on for longer in the top job.

'€œWe were looking for a new national head coach to take over but because of the insecure situation. We didn'€™t think it was fair to bring in a new guy so I was asked to do it for these two games,'€ he said.

'€œAfter that, we'€™ll have to see. After 30 years as a player and a coach, the adrenalin of the game is still attractive. But I also have a big job as technical director.'€

In his native Netherlands, Huistra worked as assistant manager to Marco van Basten at four-time European champion Ajax when Luis Suarez was the star striker and has been head coach of Eredivisie side Groningen, where he launched his professional playing career in the mid-1980s.

His taste for Asia was developed during two seasons playing for Sanfrecce Hiroshima in Japan in the mid-1990s and as assistant national coach in Hong Kong in 2001.

But nothing could properly prepare him for the seat-of-the-pants ride that working in the dysfunctional world of Indonesian soccer could bring.

Last weekend, players from Malaysia'€™s Pahang were denied entry visas as they changed planes in Jakarta ahead of an AFC Cup game at Indonesian club Persipura Jayapura. Indonesia'€™s U23 squad is due to fly to Singapore this weekend for the soccer competition of the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, not knowing if a FIFA ban will cut short their participation.

Huistra admits that it hasn'€™t been the ideal way for a coach to prepare for the second round of AFC World Cup qualifying.

'€œThe target is to win both matches but my challenge is that because the league is frozen, many players haven'€™t been getting a game and some didn'€™t even train with their teams,'€ he said.

'€œOnly Persipura and Persib Bandung, who are in the AFC Cup, have been playing matches so the main core of selection will be from those two clubs, plus Andik Vermansyah in Malaysia [Selangor] and Sergio van Dijk in Thailand [Suphanburi FC].'€

As a tricky winger, Huistra earned eight caps for Holland between 1988 and 1991 when Ruud Gullit, Ronald Koeman and Frank Rijkaard were his teammates.

He never appeared in a major tournament, but is proud of the fact that he played in the crucial April 1989 qualifier when a 1-1 draw against West Germany earned the Oranje a place at the 1990 World Cup. The emergence of former Arsenal and Barcelona star Marc Overmars effectively ended Huistra'€™s international career.

Years earlier, when he was a youngster at Groningen, another flashy attacking player made a big impression. His name? Fandi Ahmad, Singapore'€™s most successful soccer export and current coach of LionsXII, newly crowned Malaysia FA Cup champions.

'€œHe was very exotic and we became friends because Fandi used to drive me to training as I was just a youngster,'€ Huistra said. '€œHe was remembered for his orange Opel car, his love of Kool and the Gang music and the Tiger Balm rub he used in the dressing room which we all ended up trying.'€

Huistra visited Fandi in Singapore earlier this year, but admits it may be a few more months before he catches up again with his former teammate.

'€œThere'€™s so much work to do here across 34 Indonesian provinces and I plan to visit them all,'€ he said. '€œWe'€™ve already scheduled 76 coach education courses this year from nothing. That would all stop if the FIFA ban happened but we have to be prepared for anything to happen. One thing I'€™ve found out so far is that in Indonesian soccer you have to be very flexible.'€

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