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Four countries join Pertamina Independence Cup 2008
Coinciding with the country's 63rd independence anniversary, the Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI) will kick off the 2008 Pertamina Independence Cup international soccer tournament in Jakarta next week
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Coinciding with the country's 63rd independence anniversary, the Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI) will kick off the 2008 Pertamina Independence Cup international soccer tournament in Jakarta next week.
National teams from Libya, Myanmar, Brunei Darussalam and two teams from Indonesia will be competing at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium for the 18-carat gold cup and Rp 200 million (US$22,222) in prize money.
The competition, which is back after seven years of absence, will run from Aug. 21 to 29.
"Two Indonesian teams will compete -- the senior team and the under-21s," PSSI Secretary General Nugraha Besoes said at a press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday.
The senior team will use the tournament as a warm-up session ahead of the Asian Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup in December and the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers in January 2009. The under-21 team will be practicising for the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games to be held in Laos next year.
It will be the eighth time the tournament has been held since its inception in 1985.
"The last Independence Cup was held in Jakarta in 2000. That year Indonesia grabbed the title," Nugraha said.
Indonesia won the 2000 tournament with a convincing 3-0 win over Iraq in the final. The host also finished the tournament as the winners in 1987, beating Algeria 2-1 in the final.
Nugraha said they also invited teams from Europe, United States and Japan this year.
"But they turned down the invitation. The European countries have just wrapped up their Euro Cup, while the U.S. team is currently starting their regular competition and Japan is grooming players for the next World Cup."
Among the champions of the Independence Cup since its inception are Chile (1985), Algeria (1986), China (1988), Australia (1990), Malaysia (1992) and Thailand (1994).
According to competition chief Herman Ago, the 2008 Independence Cup will feature two matches a day, scheduled at 6.30 p.m. and 9.15 p.m. Some 56,000 tickets will be available for each match, with prices ranging between Rp 20,000 and Rp 100,000.
