Riedl
With the AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 less than a week away, co-hosts Indonesia are stepping up their preparation with several friendly matches on a trot. Recently appointed chief coach of the Indonesia national team Alfred Riedl shares his thoughts on what can be expected from the hosts of Group A.
Born and raised in Vienna, Riedl was one of the top scorers in European football in the 70s. He played for Austria Vienna and Standard Liège. At Royal Antwerp, he even played together with Louis van Gaal and Eric Gerets. Alfred Riedl was honoured as Belgium’s top scorer in 1973 and 1975.
Mr. Riedl, since the early 90s you have been coaching away from your hometown in Austria. Josef Hickersberger, which whom you played together at Austria Wien, is another fine example of the travelling coach as is the case with Berti Vogts, Holger Osieck or Wolfgang Sidka. What are the reasons behind such coaches wanting to go abroad and not go back home?
Sometimes it is easier to find a job in foreign countries rather than at your doorstep. If you like to work, you can’t wait for ages to get a job. After the first step abroad, sometimes it is just not that easy to go back home.
On your first appearance as coach with Zamalek SC in Egypt, you played in the Afro-Asian Championship in September 94. Can you remember the match against Thai Farmers Bank FC which was really your first contact with a team from Thailand.
Yes, I remember that game. We lost the second leg 0-1 (drew 2-2 on aggregate) against Thai Farmers. I went to Bangkok for the first time then too.
Between 1998 and 2007 you have been in charge of the Vietnam national team three times and led them in three AFF Suzuki Cup (previously known as the Tiger Cup). In between, you coached Al-Salmiya SC (Kuwait) and also in Palestine. Why did you come to back to Vietnam at each turn of your transition?
Their resources were limited only in 1998, but since then the football in Vietnam have been progressing real well. My wife and I feel very good being there and that is why we always came back.
In 2008, Vietnam won the AFF Suzuki Cup for the first time under Henrique Calisto. Would you say that his success was based on the work you did before?
It was just a matter of time before Vietnam win a big tournament. In 2008 they had the fortune, they were lacking of in previous years. However, everybody who is and was working for football in Vietnam deserves to share in the success of 2008.
Since May 2010 you are the head coach of Indonesia. Before that you led the Laos Under-23 team to a surprising third place at the SEA Games in 2009. Why didn’t you extend your contract with Laos?
Because the Lao Football Federation at the time was going through a transition and in between I got the offer from Indonesia.
With the like of Mano Nhouvannasak, you even had a German-Lao national in your squad. Actually he is on the verge of signing a contract with a Thai Premier League side at the moment. Why couldn’t he make it to the final SEA Games squad in 2009?
Mano would have been part of the squad. But his Lao passport wasn’t done in time.
Let’s get back to your actual task – the Indonesia national football team. Since you started back in May this year, you did not actually begin your tenure in the best of circumstances. During the first few weeks, there were rumours that other coaches might take your job. Recently team manager Andi Darussalam even labelled you as being arrogant. And just a few days later the Indonesia FA came out and said that you have to win the AFF Cup, or otherwise you will get sacked – this even though you had signed a two year contract with the Indonesia FA. How do you deal with such a situation and circumstances?
I read about it, but I don’t care because as an employee of the Indonesia FA, I can be sacked at any time. The issue with Andi is solved but it should not happen again. Otherwise I will not hold my breath and that would not be a good thing for the one or the other. My target is to reach the final. Other targets do not concern me. I do my job 100%. If it is not enough in the end, as said, I am just an employee.
As we mentioned before, the AFF Suzuki Cup is just around the corner. How is your preparation coming along for your first match on 1 December against Malaysia?
We started training with 25 players and we will have several friendly games to whip the team up. At the moment, it is best that I do not reveal too much although I already have the core of the team.
It has been said that your players lacked fitness especially when the league season in Indonesia had just started. While for the Thais, they should be very tired after a long season. Do you feel that this will be an advantage when you play Thailand in the last match of the group?
A. Riedl: I think that the Thai players will get the rest they need for the AFF Suzuki Cup. They will have fresh legs for the competition and they will be in a good shape to face us.
Is there any tactical scheme you prefer to play? If yes, which one?
Our tactic will depend on our opponent.
Who do you think is the favourite to win the tournament this year? And how do you think your team will fare?
The usual suspects – Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore have the potential and certainly they are among the favourites. However don’t underestimate Malaysia. On the same breath too, we cannot discount the other teams in the group. As I’ve said before, we hope to be in the final.
Which league do you consider as being the best in ASEAN?
I think that the V-League in Vietnam is the best. It looks like they have made tremendous improvement.