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Indonesia makes its way to last 8

Duel: Indonesian Nandi Saiful Anam vies for a ball against a Costa Rica player in their quarterfinal match of the Homeless World Cup street soccer tournament at George Square in Glasgow, Scotland, on Thursday

Bagus BT Saragih (The Jakarta Post)
Glasgow
Sat, July 16, 2016

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Indonesia makes its way to last 8

D

span class="inline inline-center">Duel: Indonesian Nandi Saiful Anam vies for a ball against a Costa Rica player in their quarterfinal match of the Homeless World Cup street soccer tournament at George Square in Glasgow, Scotland, on Thursday. Indonesia won 7-4.(Courtesy of PPI Greater Glasgow)

Persistence and confidence has pushed the Indonesian 2016 Homeless World Cup (HWC) soccer team ahead against all the odds.

Suffering only one defeat in the second stage, Indonesia passes through to the quarterfinals to take on reigning champion Mexico on Friday. It will be the second time Indonesia has faced the Latin American team after losing to it 5-2 at the first stage of the 2016 HWC in Glasgow, Scotland.

It was the dramatic 7-4 win against Costa Rica on Thursday evening that brought Indonesia to the second place of Group C, entitling it a spot in the top eight out of the 52 participating countries. Only hours before, Portugal, so far unbeaten, took down Indonesia 3-0.

“My players understood my instructions extremely well. I knew how Costa Rica played that’s why we could anticipate its tactics. I’m pleased our strategy worked. The boys have done a very good job,” coach Sabrun Hanapi said.

Other victories Indonesia has chalked up during the second stage are 10-3 against home team Scotland, 4-3 against Romania and 9-4 against Denmark.

The success means Indonesia has exceeded its achievement during the 2015 HWC in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where it won the Amsterdam Trophy for coming in at the top 17 out of 47 participating countries. Indonesia’s best achievement was in Mexico City in 2012 when it reached fourth place.

When asked if Indonesia would now further exceed that achievement or even win the cup, Sabrun said, “We are not even thinking about that yet. The most important thing for now is winning today’s match [against Mexico].”

Indonesia’s HWC team has attracted great interest among the international media. Members of the team are known for their unique hair styles and joyful attitude toward other teams.

Goalkeeper Eman Sulaeman, who is disabled having been born without feet, has also been in the international spotlight because of his remarkable performances.

Dozens of cheerful Indonesian supporters have also been an eye-catching feature on the fields every time Indonesia has played, thanks to the organization of the Indonesian Students Association (PPI) in Greater Glasgow. There are currently around 120 Indonesians residing in Glasgow, mostly students.

Indonesia has sent one referee to the tournament. Debutant Jack “Jackie Chan” Sandy played for the Indonesian team during the 2015 HWC. He is one of three referees who have previously competed in the tournament as players. The other two are Norway’s Adil Jaeead and Gilson Rebaero from Lisbon.

“This is my first year as a referee and it has been very exciting,” Jack said in a statement released by the HWC. “It is very different but very enjoyable. My first game this week was very nervous for me. It was quite a strange feeling to begin with but good fun.”

The HWC is an annual soccer tournament organized by a social organization of the same name that advocates for the end of homelessness through soccer, specifically street soccer. In total 64 teams representing 52 countries are participating in the event, which runs from July 10 to 16.

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