Indonesia coach Alfred Riedl is taking a tough line on discipline in his squad, an approach that has cost striker Boaz Salossa a spot in Indonesia's AFF Suzuki Cup squad.
Salossa, who starred for Indonesia in their run to the AFF final in 2004, had been tipped to lead the line for his country's campaign in this year's Suzuki Cup. But the 24-year-old will not be involved after failing to show up on time for the team's training camp in Palembang.
"The players sometimes don't behave very professionally, I am disappointed about the attitude of some of them and I had to kick out Boaz Salossa, one of the best forwards in the country, because of his bad attitude.
"His behaviour in this case was unacceptable. He is a troublemaker and he had caused problems before so I kicked him out."
Losing the talents of a player who inspired Persipura Jayapura to the Indonesian Super League title in 2009 with a haul of 28 goals is a major blow to the hopes of a country still desperately seeking its maiden AFF Suzuki Cup title.
Riedl though feels that there is enough depth in his attack to sanction Salossa's dismissal with veteran hitman Bambang Pamungkas or Uruguay-born Christian Gonzales likely to partner one of Indonesia's young strikers up front.
"Right now, I have no fixed players and no automatic starters," said the Austrian. "Everyone has to fight for a place in the squad.
"Bambang is a very smart player but unfortunately, he's a bit old now at 30. His quality and his skill are still there but his speed is going down.
"Gonzales is also available as he has been naturalised as an Indonesian citizen. He may be 35 but he has scored a lot of goals in the Indonesian League and been its top scorer four times.
"Both of them are good players but playing Gonzales and Bambang together could be a problem because of their age. We will probably pair one of them alongside a young striker like Yongki Aribowo, Dendi Santoso or Irfan Bachdim."
Irfan received the nod to start alongside Gonzales in a 6-0 win over Timor Leste in a warm-up match in Palembang on Sunday but failed to find the net for Indonesia in the game. Gonzales notched a brace after defender Muhammad Ridwan and midfielder Oktovianus Maniani had put Indonesia in front, while Bambang and Yongki also scored after coming on as substitutes.
But while the big win will be a boost to the morale of the team, Riedl admits that he would have preferred higher calibre opposition in the build-up to the Suzuki Cup.
"We have been based in Palembang for our training camp and we arranged matches here against Timor Leste and Chinese Taipei. We respect both teams but we would have liked to have played stronger opponents for our warm-up matches. However it is hard to find strong teams to play against at this time," admitted the former Vietnam coach.
"Since last Monday (Nov 8), we have had 10 days of training and we have been working very hard with the players on their physical strength and tactics. I feel that the players are not physical enough so the last two weeks have been important for building them up for the competition."
Riedl is the seventh coach tasked with leading Indonesia into the regional tournament and while the 61-year-old will be hoping that he can capture the country's maiden AFF Suzuki Cup title in December, he does not intend to allow the weight of expectation to get to him.
Said Reidl: "I don't care about pressure. I want to see my team play well and my target is to go to the final. If we don't reach that far, I don't know what will happen next as I am just an employee of the Indonesian football federation and I can be fired at any time.
"Some people are saying that we must win but in football it is not realistic to say that because nothing is certain. There are other teams that have as much chance as Indonesia of winning the Suzuki Cup and we must do our best if we are to reach the final."
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