Simon McMenemy (Tribunnews
Simon McMenemy (Tribunnews.com)
The Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) announced on Thursday the appointment of Simon McMenemy of Scotland to manage the national team in a two-year contract, starting early next year.
After wrapping up an executive committee meeting at the Sultan Hotel in Jakarta, PSSI deputy chairman Joko Driyono, along with secretary general Ratu Tisha Destria and several members of the executive committee, told a press conference about hiring McMenemy to replace Bima Sakti, who helmed the national team after Luis Milla’s departure.
“Simon is on a two-year contract that ends in 2020. We will participate in qualification for the Asian Football Confederation [AFC] Cup and compete in the ASEAN Football Federation [AFF] Championship in 2020,” Joko said.
McMenemy is not a new name to the country’s soccer fans as he previously led Bhayangkara FC to win the country’s top soccer league, Liga 1, in 2017. Before taking over Bhayangkara the 41-year-old had also managed two Indonesian soccer clubs, namely Pelita Bandung Raya and Mitra Kukar.
The Indonesian men’s team’s immediate focus is qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the 2020 AFC Cup.
“It was not easy to [finally] decide on [McMenemy as coach]. We had two reasons for hiring him: our target and resources, including our financial capabilities to support the program,” Joko added.
Besides appointing McMenemy, the PSSI also announced the appointment of Indra Sjafrie as under-22 team coach for the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in the Philippines, as well as Bima as the U-16 squad manager.
The PSSI has yet to decide on who will manage the U-19 team.
“In 2019, we will have at least six national teams, comprising four men’s and two women’s, that are participating in six [international] events,” said Joko.
He went on to say the association planned to break down the U-19 and U-16 divisions into three teams respectively, because of the large size of Indonesia. Each division will have a representative team, respectively from eastern, central and western parts of the country.
“Considering the potential of young talent in the country, each [U-19 and U-16] national team will have three representative teams, from the East, Central and West areas,” said Joko.
Meanwhile, the association has also extended the contract with Rully Nere, who heads the women’s senior team, until 2019. The Indonesian senior women’s team will continue its journey reaching the 2020 Tokyo Olympics by participating in a second qualifier in 2019.
Rully led the women’s team into the Tokyo Olympics’ first qualifier in November. Previously, Rully handled the U-16 women’s team for a few months before returning to the main team.
“We still have about a month to decide on the coaches for the U-19 men’s and U-16 women’s squads,” said Joko, adding that the PSSI had considered Fakhri Husaini for the U-19 side. Fakhri stood out after managing the victorious U-16 men’s team in the 2018 Jenesys Cup in Japan in March.
“We hope all soccer fans in the country will give their support to the national teams ahead of big events in the future, including the SEA Games,” he said.
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