This could be our year: Firman

JAKARTA: Long-suffering Indonesian football fans may finally have cause to celebrate at the AFF Suzuki Cup this year, according to midfielder Firman Utina. 

The largest and most populous nation in Southeast Asia have seen their side reach the regional final on three previous occasions only to falter each time, twice against Thailand in 2000 and 2002 and against Singapore in 2004. 

But after the Merah Putih's vibrant displays during the group stage – in which they won all three games, scoring 13 goals and conceding only two – Firman, the national team's deputy captain, firmly believes that they have the pieces in place to finally land the elusive title and dominate Asean football for years to come. 

"The team have a very good prospect of going far," he told www.affsuzukicup.com. "The younger players have been waiting for so long and now they have the opportunity to show their talent. 

"They have proven in this tournament that they truly belong and deserve to be playing at this level. With so many young players, it also bodes well for the future of our national team. 

"Our team have a big ambition to win the AFF Suzuki Cup but we know that we are not the only team with that ambition. All of the other teams also want to do well in this competition. 

"We have made a good start and done well in our games. Hopefully we don't become too big-headed and can keep our focus and give the fans the championship they desire." 

Firman, a veteran of Indonesia's 2007 and 2008 AFF Suzuki Cup campaigns, feels that the recent addition of two foreign-born forwards, Christian Gonzales and Irfan Bachdim, has also aided the Indonesian cause. According to the 28-year-old, Gonzales, a former Uruguay under-20 international who has lived in Indonesia for seven years, and Irfan, who was born and raised in the Netherlands but has an Indonesian father, have settled in well with their teammates. 

"They have done very well so far," said Firman, a native of Manado in Sulawesi. "They want to be part of our team and they have had no problems so far mingling with the rest of their teammates. They have shown themselves to be real Indonesians and they have not tried to isolate themselves. 

"Christian Gonzalez has already been living in Indonesia for a long time so he probably knows the culture here better than he knows the culture in his home country. 

"Both he and Irfan are really fit and they have shown a lot of skill. They deserve to be in our team." 

And Firman also praised the job done by coach Alfred Riedl, who took on the role in the middle of this year and is assisted by Wolfgang Pikal, his Austrian compatriot who has lived in Indonesia for many years and speaks the local language fluently. 

"Coach Riedl and the assistant coach speak the same language and coach Pikal does a good job of translating the information through to us so we know what needs to be done. That helps us a lot. 

"Riedl said to us that he is like a father who does not want to see us do things wrongly. He has a very strict way of doing things but he wants to do what he can to straighten things out for our benefit. He is very disciplined and cannot help but correct us if he sees something wrong. I believe that he is a figure who can guide us to success." 

With Riedl opting to use national captain Bambang Pungkas mainly as an impact player off the bench during the group stage, Firman appears to have taken over the role of the team's on-field marshal. But the Sriwijaya player emphasised that it the skipper's armband still belongs to Bambang and not himself. 

"Bambang is still the team captain and I am just supporting him in that role. We work together for the benefit of the team – both on and off the field," he explained. 

"Of course it is a great motivation for me when I wear the captain's armband but it is not only me playing in the game. Our success is down to the work of the whole team. Our togetherness is a responsibility for all of the players on the team."