When Alfred Riedl was announced as the new coach of the Indonesian national football team on March 4, no one was more surprised than he was. He was still talking to other countries, he said, and certainly nothing had been signed, and anyway he wasn’t sure that he wanted to come to Indonesia. The Indonesian Football Association, which had insisted on announcing the news, stuck to its position for some hours, but retracted the announcement the next day, blaming over-enthusiasm. Now, however, the courtship is over and the marriage is sealed. After more than three months of negotiations, the National Team Body has confirmed that it has reached an agreement — for real this time — with Riedl to coach the senior and Under-23 national teams, new BTN chief Iman Arief said. “He will arrive in Jakarta this week, and the training camp will start as soon as he arrives,” Iman told on Monday. Riedl, 60, will take over from national team coach Benny Dollo and U-23 coach Alberto Bica. The Austrian’s main attraction is three spells in charge of Vietnam between 1998 and 2007, helping lay the foundation for Southeast Asia’s newest emerging football power.
