There are expected to be 30,000 young players taking part in the national qualification for the soccer festival, which has been recognized as the children’s World Cup by FIFA since 1998 and hosts participants from 40 countries.

The provincial qualifying rounds will take place in 12 cities across the archipelago, including Banda Aceh and Yogyakarta (May 22-23), Banjarmasin and Padang (May 29-30), Makassar and Semarang (June 5-6), Papua (June 8-9), Medan and Bandung (June 12-13), and Banten, Jakarta and Surabaya (June 19-20).

The winning team from the national final in Jakarta in August will represent Indonesia at the world final from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3 in the heart of this year’s World Cup in Johannesburg. This year, the event will hold two finals in Johannesburg as last year’s Danone Nations Cup world final was postponed due to the H1N1 pandemic.

Last year’s national champions from Semarang, Central Java, is confident of springing a surprise in Johannesburg.

“It was the first time for Semarang to participate in the national event. We never imagine we would win. So, now we’re up for creating more surprises in South Africa,” Semarang team coach Taufan Setiadi said on the sidelines of the launch of the Danone Nations Cup Indonesia on Thursday.

Last year, the Semarang team beat the odds by outplaying the 2008 national champions form Tulungagung, East Java, 2-1 in the semifinals. In the final, Semarang beat Aceh 1-0.

“Due to the delay, I believe our team is more than ready for the world finals. We haven’t stopped practicing since last year,” said Taufan.

Danone Nations Cup Indonesia was first held in 2003. Two years later, the country’s envoy, Makassar, was awarded the best attacking team for scoring 24 goals in the festival. Indonesia’s best performance to date was reaching the semifinals in 2006, when the Makassar team finished fourth in the world finals. The team was honored as the best defensive team for only giving up one goal.

Acknowledging that the future of the country’s soccer development lay in the hands of youngsters, Youth and Sports Minister Andi Alfian Mallarangeng said he hoped the Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI) would provide sustainable competition for the youngsters’ development.

“Natural talent needs to be polished continuously. Unfortunately, these talented youth usually vanish by the time they reach their teens or over, and then unknown names suddenly appear in the national senior roster. It must not go on like this,” Andi said.

“It’s good that some corporations support the development of the sport, but the PSSI must keep working on the basics in developing young talent,” he said, adding that companies also needed to extend their support of athletic development and not only sponsor senior leagues or clubs.

The 2008 Danone Nations Cup champion was France, while in 2007, South Africa snatched the title.

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