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Spanish coach likely appointed to handle Indonesia’s national soccer team
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All set – Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrowi, Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI) chairman Edy Rahmayadi and West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan take a picture with 13 former captains of the Indonesian national team before the PSSI Annual Congress in Bandung, West Java, on Jan.8.
(JP/Arya Dipa)
I
ndonesian Soccer Association (PSSI) chairman Edy Rahmayadi has indicated that one of two coaches from Spain, namely Luiz Fernández, 55, and Luiz Villa, 48, may handle the country’s national soccer team.
“Actually, we wanted to make an official appointment of our new coach, but we should first choose one of them. We looked at their credibility in coaching their previous teams and they seemed to be the best candidates,” he said during the PSSI Annual Congress in Bandung, Sunday.
Edy said both Fernández and Villa had once brought their national teams and soccer teams from Asia and Africa to win international competitions. In 1990s, Fernández brought Athletic Bilbao to become the runner up of the Spanish League and Paris Saint Germain as the winner of French Cup and UEFA Intertoto Cup.
In the last five years, Fernández handled the Israeli national team 2010-2011 and the Guinea national team 2015-2016.
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Edy said the names of the two candidates were the result of a selection conducted during the PSSI team’s visit to Spain at the end of 2016. During the visit, the team listened to explanations of six candidates of coaches it had targeted.
Edy said the selected coach would handle Indonesia’s national soccer team, which would compete at the upcoming Southeast Asia Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
For the U-19 national team coach, two candidates are undergoing selection. They are Bali United coach Indra Sjafri and Wolfgang Pikal, former assistant coach of Indonesian national team coach Alfred Riedl. For the U-16 national team, the PSSI will choose either Fakhri Husaini or Rudi Eka Priyambada. (ebf)
