Indonesia To Face Malaysia In Anniversary Cup 2018

JAKARTA, April 4 (Antara) - The Indonesian national soccer team will play against Malaysia in the 2018 Anniversary Cup tournament at the Bung Karno Main Stadium (GBK) Senayan, Jakarta, on April 27. "The match will be part of our schedule to prepare for the 2018 Asian Games," Youths and Sports Affairs Minister, Imam Nahrawi said on the sidelines of the inauguration of the ministry's officials, here on Tuesday. The match is considered to be a medium for evaluating the national team coach, Luis Milla. Evaluation in question, the minister said, relates to the extent of the capabilities of the national team before undergoing an official match at the Asian Games which will be held in Jakarta and Palembang, in the upcoming August. Nahrawi further said that the match between Indonesia against Malaysia is very important, in addition to testing the ability of the team. The game is also considered full of prestige because the Malaysian team will take part in the Asian Games. "Malaysia is not a small team, so everything must be well prepared and the role of the coach is very important in determining (the ability of) the players," the minister noted. Therefore, Nahrawi asked the clubs to let their players join the national team. The Asian Games, which will be held in Jakarta and the South Sumatra provincial capital city of Palembang, will bring together around 10 thousand athletes from 45 countries to compete in 40 sports from Aug 18 to Sept 2, 2018. A total of 40 branches of sports covered in 462 events, comprising 32 Olympic sports and eight non-Olympic sports, will be competed at the 18th Asian Games. It will be the second time that Indonesia is hosting the Asian Games next year. Indonesia hosted the Asian sporting events for the first time in 1962, the fourth one after the Asian Games were first organized in New Delhi, India, in 1951.