Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Kurnia Sandy Interview
While Indonesia football may plagued by a surfeit of problems at least they can be confidant that in one area they are blessed. Between the sticks they have a number of goalkeepers who must be the envy of many a neighbouring country. Hendro Kartiko of Persija, Dian Agus at Pelita Jaya, Achmad Kurniawan and Markus Horison at Persik. Add Persipura’s Jendri Pitoy, Sriwijaya’s impressive Ferry Rotinsulu and the list must have England’s Fabio Capello quaking in jealous rage. Oh, and I Komang Putra, newly signed by Persema.
New national team coach Benny Dollo must wish he had more positional headaches like this.
And yet one keeper Benny Dollo knows only too well hasn’t been mentioned so far. A keeper possibly familiar to one of Capello’s predecessors in the England job, Sven Goran Erikisson.
As a young lad learning his trade Kurnia Sandy was invited to join 20 of his peers in Sampdoria, Italy, the idea being to nurture and develop promising talent in the nurseries of what was then undoubtedly the best league in Europe. Sandy impressed and was signed on by the Genovese club but failed to make it beyond third choice.
But while he never got to play in the first team the young lad, who grew up supporting AC Milan, appreciated the opportunity he had been given.
‘Everything was good there. The coaching, the training, the facilities. So good, so professional. We learnt a lot about playing football, organization, discipline. Here in Indonesia the discipline is bad and the motivation levels are low,’ he explained to me as we sat in the restaurant of a South Jakarta club.
Being young and far from home he found it difficult to break in the first team and lacking an agent he wasn’t able to find another club in Europe. With his Italian adventure over he returned to Jakarta, teaming up with Pelita Jaya for four years before spending a year with Persikabo.
After a couple of seasons with Arema Malang where he won the Copa Indonesia twice being an unused substitute he moved to Liga Champions Persik Kediri and qualified for the Asian Champions League.
Last season’s Persik Kediri were a football neutral’s dream come true. They attacked with gay abandon and left any defending in the lap of the gods being the top scorers in Indonesia but at the other end it was a different story.
‘We attacked with Gonzalez, with Sudarsono, Fagundez and we were very good. But when we lost the ball the transition from attack to defence was slow.’
When the AFC Champions League draw was made Persik Kediri were grouped with some of the glamour boys of Asian football. Sydney, Urawa Reds and Shanghai were their opponents and everyone knew at least where they came from. Persik? The small town of Kediri in East Java lacks an airport and their Brawijaya Stadium was deemed to not meet the required standard for hosting such prestigious ties. Persik’s ties were relocated to Solo, a far better stadium and much more accessible for the ‘home’ team it meant a six hour drive there and back.
But their illustrious opponents underestimated Persik at their peril. Victories over Shanghai and Sydney and a creditable 3-3 draw with Japanese side Urawa Reds showed that Indonesia’s champions were no pushovers.
‘Who is Persik, where is Kediri, no one knew anything about us,’ Sandy recalled comments from opposition players who succumbed to the conditions and the ability. Make no mistake, the 2007 Persik vintage was one good footballing team.
‘After we beat Sydney their players were arguing, blaming each other because they lost.’ It’s almost as if the Australians couldn’t accept they’d been beaten by a better side.
Away from home though the team known as the White Tigers were less impressive as they failed to garner a point from their travels.
‘Japan was unbelievable. The city, the stadium, the fans. really nice. Sydney is a beautiful city then we came back from overseas to our dressing rooms, our pitches, our facilities. I felt shy.’
Perhaps there was some intimidation, perhaps the players felt overawed by their surroundings. Certainly the Sydney captain attempted some gentle sledging before the game in Parramatta but at the end of the day until Indonesian clubs play more games overseas and know what to expect we can expect the sides to struggle. Likewise last season Arema Malang failed in foreign climes.
Kurnia is now 33. I wondered how much longer he felt he had at the top. He reckoned on a couple of years. With his experience domestically and abroad could he see himself going into coaching. ‘Yes, I would like to do some coaching but I would prefer to work with younger kids rather than in the Liga. The players…’ he didn’t finish that sentence!
At present Kurnia is working at the Arsenal Soccer School passing on his know how to a new generation of goalies, enjoying their enthusiasm and the stress free atmosphere. Released by Persik at the end of last season he is keen to find a new club in and around the Jakarta area having spent the last few seasons in East Java. Then he can turn his attention full time to the kids.
This article first appeared on ESPNSTAR and comes from an interview I did with the goalkeeper a couple of years back. I was also asked to do another interview with him for an Italian website and that should be appearing on line sometime in the future.
New national team coach Benny Dollo must wish he had more positional headaches like this.
And yet one keeper Benny Dollo knows only too well hasn’t been mentioned so far. A keeper possibly familiar to one of Capello’s predecessors in the England job, Sven Goran Erikisson.
As a young lad learning his trade Kurnia Sandy was invited to join 20 of his peers in Sampdoria, Italy, the idea being to nurture and develop promising talent in the nurseries of what was then undoubtedly the best league in Europe. Sandy impressed and was signed on by the Genovese club but failed to make it beyond third choice.
But while he never got to play in the first team the young lad, who grew up supporting AC Milan, appreciated the opportunity he had been given.
‘Everything was good there. The coaching, the training, the facilities. So good, so professional. We learnt a lot about playing football, organization, discipline. Here in Indonesia the discipline is bad and the motivation levels are low,’ he explained to me as we sat in the restaurant of a South Jakarta club.
Being young and far from home he found it difficult to break in the first team and lacking an agent he wasn’t able to find another club in Europe. With his Italian adventure over he returned to Jakarta, teaming up with Pelita Jaya for four years before spending a year with Persikabo.
After a couple of seasons with Arema Malang where he won the Copa Indonesia twice being an unused substitute he moved to Liga Champions Persik Kediri and qualified for the Asian Champions League.
Last season’s Persik Kediri were a football neutral’s dream come true. They attacked with gay abandon and left any defending in the lap of the gods being the top scorers in Indonesia but at the other end it was a different story.
‘We attacked with Gonzalez, with Sudarsono, Fagundez and we were very good. But when we lost the ball the transition from attack to defence was slow.’
When the AFC Champions League draw was made Persik Kediri were grouped with some of the glamour boys of Asian football. Sydney, Urawa Reds and Shanghai were their opponents and everyone knew at least where they came from. Persik? The small town of Kediri in East Java lacks an airport and their Brawijaya Stadium was deemed to not meet the required standard for hosting such prestigious ties. Persik’s ties were relocated to Solo, a far better stadium and much more accessible for the ‘home’ team it meant a six hour drive there and back.
But their illustrious opponents underestimated Persik at their peril. Victories over Shanghai and Sydney and a creditable 3-3 draw with Japanese side Urawa Reds showed that Indonesia’s champions were no pushovers.
‘Who is Persik, where is Kediri, no one knew anything about us,’ Sandy recalled comments from opposition players who succumbed to the conditions and the ability. Make no mistake, the 2007 Persik vintage was one good footballing team.
‘After we beat Sydney their players were arguing, blaming each other because they lost.’ It’s almost as if the Australians couldn’t accept they’d been beaten by a better side.
Away from home though the team known as the White Tigers were less impressive as they failed to garner a point from their travels.
‘Japan was unbelievable. The city, the stadium, the fans. really nice. Sydney is a beautiful city then we came back from overseas to our dressing rooms, our pitches, our facilities. I felt shy.’
Perhaps there was some intimidation, perhaps the players felt overawed by their surroundings. Certainly the Sydney captain attempted some gentle sledging before the game in Parramatta but at the end of the day until Indonesian clubs play more games overseas and know what to expect we can expect the sides to struggle. Likewise last season Arema Malang failed in foreign climes.
Kurnia is now 33. I wondered how much longer he felt he had at the top. He reckoned on a couple of years. With his experience domestically and abroad could he see himself going into coaching. ‘Yes, I would like to do some coaching but I would prefer to work with younger kids rather than in the Liga. The players…’ he didn’t finish that sentence!
At present Kurnia is working at the Arsenal Soccer School passing on his know how to a new generation of goalies, enjoying their enthusiasm and the stress free atmosphere. Released by Persik at the end of last season he is keen to find a new club in and around the Jakarta area having spent the last few seasons in East Java. Then he can turn his attention full time to the kids.
This article first appeared on ESPNSTAR and comes from an interview I did with the goalkeeper a couple of years back. I was also asked to do another interview with him for an Italian website and that should be appearing on line sometime in the future.
# posted by Me @ 4:15 PM 
