Nike Chance: Indonesia's famous 5
Indonesia made their move towards the Regional Finals of Nike 'The Chance' after selecting five winners from Friday's Country Finals.
By Marcus Chhan in Jakarta
After Thursday's intense workout, participants in the competition had to bring their 'A' game once again with a 11-a side decider in front of coach Widodo C. Putro who only had five invitations for the Regional Finals to hand out.
Adding to the pressure, the 30 boys had to perform in front of Inter Milan head coach Andrea Stramaccioni who arrived at GMSB Kuningan flanked by his players Giampaolo Pazzini and 19-year-old Lorenzo Crisetig.
Inter are in Jakarta as part of a tour of Indonesia and the presence of Stramaccioni, Pazzini and Crisetig on the sidelines certainly added a touch of celebrity to Friday's proceedings.
The night before, Stramaccioni had guided his team to a 3-0 win over a select Indonesia League team in front of over 20,000 at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.
Inter have been suitably impressed by the reception they've received in Jakarta with their coach Stramaccioni calling Indonesia a country where "football is a part of the life of the people".
"So I think that during the match yesterday [Thursday], I saw a good team, a good young team," he told ESPNSTAR.com.
"They played with quick technical skills and I think the level in Indonesia has increased in the last few years."
The real stars of the show on Friday though were not Inter Milan, nor was it Andrea Stramaccioni; instead it was Indonesia's Eriyanto, Evan Dimas, Rainhard Romario, Randy Chandra and Apriyono. These now famous five from Indonesia will take their place as the nation's best hope in the next month's Regional Finals for Nike ‘The Chance.'
"I am very happy to be selected because all these players came from many different areas from Indonesia," Eriyanto said with the help of a translator.
Joining Eriyanto at the Regional Finals will be Rainhard Romario who got his name as a result of Brazil's World Cup triumph in 1994 where a certain striker by the name of Romario was named as the tournament's best player.
"When I was born my parents saw the World Cup on TV and Brazil won so they named by after Rainhard Romario," he said.
The Chance Regional Finals will include players from Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Singapore and only four will be selected to compete at the Global Finals in Barcelona.