Coach Rahmad Darmawan (RD) said his target in this year's President's Cup is to bring the Indonesian All Star League, which is filled with selected local players, to play three times.
With six teams divided into two groups of three teams each, the target mentioned by RD refers to qualifying from the group stage, either as runner-up or group champion.
Later, the two runner-up teams will meet each other to compete for third place, while the two group winners will face each other in the final match to find the champion.
"Enjoying the game is a must. That's a must. But we also have to have a target, have a goal. That's why, in my cheers, I always say, when I shout 'Indonesia All Star', the target is 'play three times'. If we play three times, of course we have to qualify from the group phase," said RD when met by media crews at the Indonesian All Star League training session at the STIK (Police Science College) Stadium.
In today's training session, out of 30 players who came, only 24 players attended the training session. When asked about the other six players, RD revealed that there were several players who could not attend because they were focused on recovering from injuries.