President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pledged on Tuesday to make Indonesia's football team regionally competitive.
“All of us together with PSSI [the Indonesian Football Association] should do things right. We will revitalize and resurrect Indonesian football to take on Southeast Asia,” Yudhoyono told Metro TV.
If well managed, the president said, the national team could make its mark in Southeast Asia within five years. Yudhoyono said he had asked Minister for Youth and Sports Affairs Andi Mallarangeng to discuss the plan as soon as possible.
He also suggested that the country consider establishing three national teams to represent West, Central and East Indonesia.
Yudhoyono said the national team is important as a source of prestige.
“Just imagine how happy and proud we will be if our national team is on top and how ashamed if it is on the bottom. We will think, how could it happen?"
Still, he urged the public not to blame anyone for the team's disappointing showing this year.
Yudhoyono was speaking on a train trip to Cirebon, West Java to launch a number of projects. He was accompanied by First Lady Ani Yudhoyono and a number of ministers.
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