The Olympic Campaign of Indonesia 1956


Prior to the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, for which Indonesia qualified after Formosa (Republic of China, Taiwan) withdrew, the Indonesian national team went on a tour through Eastern Europe, playing 11 matches in 39 days in the Soviet Union (6 matches), Yugoslavia (2 matches), East Germany (2 matches) and Czechoslovakia (1 match). The tour included three full internationals, against Yugoslavia, Croatia (then part of Yugoslavia, but nevertheless the match was recognised as official after Croatia's independence) and East Germany.

After returning to Indonesia, the team played one more test match, against the touring USA olympic side, won 7-5, before travelling to Australia, where the team registered the one truly remarkable result in the footballing history of independent Indonesia, forcing a goalless draw (after extra time) against the eventual winners, the Soviet Union.

After the Games, silver medalists Yugoslavia paid a return visit to Indonesia on their way home.


Indonesia's Eastern European Tour 1956
USA's Far Eastern Tour 1956
Indonesia at the Olympics
Yugoslavia's Indonesian Tour 1956

Indonesia's Eastern European Tour 1956

Match Overview

Date     Venue            Hosts                      Score

Soviet Union

19- 8-56 Baku        [*1] Neftyanik Baku              3-1 Indonesia       [HT: 1-1]
                            [Ali Abil-zade 33, 62, 90; Aang Witarsa 8]
23- 8-56 Tbilisi          Dinamo Tbilisi              5-2 Indonesia       [HT: 2-0]
                            [Zaur Kaloyev 6, 50, Boris Khasaya 31, Konstantin Gagnidze 4-0, 63; 
                             Ashari Danu 5-1, Ramly Jatim 86]
26- 8-56 Stalino     [*2] Shakhtyor Stalino           2-1 Indonesia       [HT: 2-0]
                            [Valentin Sapronov 26, Ivan Fedosov 42; Aang Witarsa 88]
29- 8-56 Kharkov     [*3] Avangard Kharkov            2-1 Indonesia       [HT: 0-0]
                            [Sergey Duykov 46, Yevgeniy Levonenko 65; Ade Dana 1-1]
 1- 9-56 Leningrad   [*4] Trudoviye Rezervy Leningrad 5-2 Indonesia       [HT: 4-1]
 4- 9-56 Ivanovo          Krasnoye Znamya Ivanovo     0-2 Indonesia       [HT: 0-1]
                            [Phoa Sian Liong 7, Ramly Jatim 77]

[*1] Baku now called Bakı (Azerbaijan)
[*2] Stalino now called Donetsk (Ukraine)
[*3] Kharkov now called Kharkiv (Ukraine)
[*4] Leningrad now called Sankt Peterburg (Russia); Indonesia's president Soekarno attended the match

Yugoslavia

 9- 9-56 Beograd          Yugoslavia                  4-2 Indonesia       [HT: 2-0]
12- 9-56 Zagreb           Croatia                     5-2 Indonesia       [HT: 4-1]

East Germany

20- 9-56 Karl-Marx-Stadt  East Germany                3-1 Indonesia       [HT: 1-1]
22- 9-56 Dresden          SC Einheit Dresden          4-1 Indonesia

Czechoslovakia

26- 9-56 Plzeň            Czechoslovakia B            5-1 Indonesia       [HT: 2-1]

Indonesia Squad (18 players)

GK Maulwi Saelan (Makassar) 
   Paidjo (Malang)
DF Chairuddin Siregar (Djakarta)
   Thio Him Tjiang (Djakarta)
   Mohammad Rasjid (Medan)
MF Ramlan Jatim (Medan)
   Sudjana Rukma (Bandung)
   Kwee Kiat Sek (Djakarta)
   Tan Liong Houw (Djakarta)
   Sidhi (Surabaja)
   Phoa Sian Liong (Djakarta) [*]
FW Aang Witarsa (Bandung)
   Ade Dana (Bandung)
   Ashari Danu (Semarang)
   Lie Kian An (Semarang)
   Moh. Djamiat Dalhar (Djakarta)
   Andi Ramang (Makassar)
   Ramly Jatim (Medan)
[*] Sian Liong was a last minute replacement for Hamdani (Djakarta), who had been included in the
    squad announced after the match of the national team against Stade de Reims on Jul 7.

Match Details

Yugoslavia                  4-2 Indonesia

Sep 9, Beograd, stadion JNA, att: 25,000; ref: Takov (Bulgaria)

Yugoslavia: Vladimir Beara; Bruno Belin (Branko Stanković), Tomislav Crnković; Vujadin Boškov,
            Ivan Horvat, Lazar Tasić; Todor Veselinović (Zdravko Rajkov), Miloš Milutinović,
            Bernard Vukas, Borivoje Kostić, Branko Zebec
Indonesia: Maulwi Saelan; Chairuddin Siregar, Thio Him Tjiang; Sudjana Rukma, Kwee Kiat Sek,
           Tan Liong Houw; Ade Dana, Aang Witarsa, Ashari Danu, Phoa Sian Liong, Ramly Jatim
           NB: substitutions (if any) not known
Goals: Milutinović (3), Kostić; Danu, Stanković (own goal)
Half-Time: 2-0

Croatia                     5-2 Indonesia

Sep 12, Zagreb; att: 12,000; ref: Damiani (Croatia)

Croatia: Ante Vulić; Svemir Delić, Ante Vidošević; Stane Krstulović, Vladimir Klaić, 
         Ante Žanetić; Sulejman Rebac, Željko Matuš, Dražan Jerković (46' Ivan Medle),
         Joško Vidošević, Aleksandar Benko
Indonesia: Maulwi Saelan (46' Paidjo); Chairuddin Siregar, Thio Him Tjiang; Sudjana Rukma,
           Kwee Kiat Sek, Tan Liong Houw; Ade Dana, Aang Witarsa, Phoa Sian Liong, Ashari Danu
           (46' Lie Kian An), Djamiat Dalhar
Goals: 9' Matuš 1-0, 13' Krstulović 2-0, 17' Rebac 3-0, 24' Tan Liong Houw 3-1,
       43' Benko 4-1, 54' Rebac 5-1, 70' Witarsa 5-2
Half-Time: 4-1

East Germany                3-1 Indonesia

Sep 20, Karl-Marx-Stadt, Ernst-Thälmann-Stadion; att: 50,000; ref: Versyp (Belgium)

East Germany: Willy Marquardt; Gerhard Schaller, Werner Eilitz; Karl Wolf, Herbert Schoen,
              Siegfried Wolf; Horst Assmy (59' Rudolf Krause), Günter Schröter, Willy Tröger,
              Manfred Kaiser, Günther Wirth
Indonesia: Paidjo (46' Maulwi Saelan); Chairuddin Siregar, Thio Him Tjiang; Sudjana Rukma,
           Kwee Kiat Sek, Tan Liong Houw; Ade Dana, Aang Witarsa, Andi Ramang, Phoa Sian Liong,
           Ramly Jatim
Goals: 3' Wirth 1-0, 34' Ramly 1-1, 49' Tröger 2-1, 75' Tröger 3-1

USA's Far Eastern Tour 1956

Match Overview

NB: none of the matches below was an official international for the United States
    (neither was their match against Yugoslavia in Melbourne, but that was later
    added on the basis of FIFA's ruling on matches at the Olympic Games).

Date     Venue            Hosts                      Score

21-10-56 Los Angeles      Los Angeles All-Stars       4-4 United States
25-10-56 Tōkyō            Tokyo Area All Stars        3-5 United States   [*1]
27-10-56 Ōsaka            Kansai All Stars            0-6 United States   [HT: 0-1]
31-10-56 Seoul            South Korea                 1-0 United States   [HT: 0-0] [*2]
 3-11-56 Taipeh           Eastern (Hongkong)          1-6 United States   [HT: 0-3]
 6-11-56 Hongkong         All Hongkong                2-1 United States   [HT: 0-1] [*3]
10-11-56 Manila           Philippines                 0-4 United States
12-11-56 Singapore        All Singapore               1-2 United States   [HT: 0-2] [*4]
16-11-56 Djakarta         Indonesia                   7-5 United States   [HT: 4-2]

[*1] hosts also listed as (unofficial) Japanese national team
[*2] unofficial international for hosts
[*3] hosts were a Hongkong League XI, including e.g. British servicemen and players of the
     Formosa (Republic of China) national side
[*4] hosts were a combined team of Singapore civilians and servicemen; match 2x40 minutes

Match Details

Indonesia                   7-5 United States

Nov 16, Djakarta, Ikada Stadion; ref: Christiaan H. Wensveen (Indonesia)

Indonesia: Maulwi Saelan; Thio Him Tjiang, Chairuddin Siregar; Ramlan Jatim, Kwee Kiat Sek,
           Tan Liong Houw; Aang Witarsa, Phoa Sian Liong, Andi Ramang, Ashari Danu
           (~70' Djamiat Dalhar), Jasrin Jusron
United States: Svend Engedal; Bill Conterio, Herman Wecke; Ruben Mendoza, Harry Keough,
               Zenon Snylyk; Lloyd Monsen, Bill Looby, Al Zerhusen, Siegbert Wirth, Ed Murphy
NB: Wirth substituted at half-time; replacement not known (possibly Jim Dorrian)
Goals: 3' Jusron 1-0, 6' Looby 1-1, 22' Danu 2-1, 35' Zerhusen 2-2, 37' Sian Liong 3-2,
       39' Danu 4-2, 50' Zerhusen 4-3, 54' Jusron 5-3, 62' Zerhusen (pen) 5-4,
       66' Jusron 6-4, 70' Zerhusen 6-5, 75' Ramang 7-5
NB: above according to match report in De Nieuwsgier; a report in the Preangerbode (and a
    completely identical one in the Java-bode) credited the 2nd, 3rd and 4th US goals to Looby
    and the last to Mendoza (and also had goal times differing by up to 7 minutes but in the
    same order)
NB: first choice US 'keeper Ron Coder had broken a leg in the Hongkong match and was replaced
    by Engedal in the last 3 matches of the tour (and also in Melbourne)

Indonesia at the Olympics

In the qualifying tournament, Indonesia had been drawn to play Formosa (now Taiwan) over two legs for a place in the final tournament, but Formosa, who had earlier requested to play the matches in Hongkong and Manila (as "neutral" venues), withdrew at the end of June 1956 in protest to the Indonesian decision to not play the national anthems and raise the flags at the leg in Djakarta (scheduled for 8 July with the return to take place on 22 July); because of this, Indonesia could schedule a second, "revenge" match against Stade de Reims during their tour of the country.
In the final tournament, Indonesia registered their best ever result, drawing with the eventual winners in the quarterfinals before losing the replay.

Match Overview

Date     Venue                                       Score

   11-56 Melbourne        Indonesia                   w/o Vietnam         [Vietnam withdrew]
29-11-56 Melbourne        Soviet Union                0-0 Indonesia       [aet]
 1-12-56 Melbourne        Soviet Union                4-0 Indonesia       [HT: 3-0]

Match Details

Soviet Union                0-0 Indonesia

Nov 29, Melbourne, Olympic Park; att: 8,000; ref: Takenokoshi (Japan)

Soviet Union: Lev Yashin; Nikolay Tischenko, Anatoly Bashashkin; Boris Kuznetsov, Jozef Betza,
              Igor Netto; Boris Tatushin, Anatoly Isayev, Eduard Streltzov, Sergey Salnikov, 
              Vladimir Ryzhkin
Indonesia: Maulwi Saelan; Mohammad Rasjid, Chairuddin Siregar; Ramlan Jatim, Kwee Kiat Sek,
           Tan Liong Houw; Aang Witarsa, Phoa Sian Liong, Ashari Danu, Thio Him Tjiang,
           Andi Ramang; coach: Antun Pogačnik
Goals: none, after extra time
NB: this was the 22nd official international match for the Soviet Union and only the second in
    which they failed to score; the first match had been exactly two months earlier, on Sep 29,
    against Hungary, lost 0-1; the next match in which the Soviet Union failed to find the net
    was at the 1958 World Cup, on Jun 15 against Brazil, lost 0-2; so Indonesia find themselves 
    in the surprising company of the Aranycsapat and the first Brazil side to win the World Cup.

Soviet Union                4-0 Indonesia

Dec 1, Melbourne, Olympic Park; att: 10,000; ref: Lund (New Zealand)

Soviet Union: Boris Razinsky; Nikolay Tischenko, Anatoly Bashashkin; Boris Kuznetsov,
              Anatoly Maslyonkin, Igor Netto; Boris Tatushin, Valentin Ivanov,
              Eduard Streltzov, Sergey Salnikov, Anatoly Ilyin   
Indonesia: Maulwi Saelan; Mohammad Rasjid, Chairuddin Siregar; Ramlan Jatim, Kwee Kiat Sek,
           Tan Liong Houw; Aang Witarsa, Andi Ramang, Achad Arifin, Thio Him Tjiang, 
           Jasrin Jusron; coach: Antun Pogačnik
Goals: 17' Salnikov 1-0, 19' Ivanov 2-0, 43' Netto 3-0, 59' Salnikov 4-0
Half-Time: 3-0

Yugoslavia's Indonesian Tour 1956

NB: Yugoslavia had won the silver medal in Melbourne (they would go one better in 1960).
    Three squad members (Ibrahim Biogradlić, Muhamed Mujić and Todor Veselinović) had been
    part of the 1953 Indonesia tour of Young Yugoslavia.

Match Overview

Date     Venue            Hosts                      Score

13-12-56 Padang           PSP                         0-3 Yugoslavia      [HT: 0-1]
16-12-56 Surabaja         Persibaja                   0-8 Yugoslavia      [HT: 0-3]
21-12-56 Bandung          Persib                      0-6 Yugoslavia      [HT: 0-3]
23-12-56 Djakarta         Indonesia                   1-5 Yugoslavia      [HT: 1-2]
25-12-56 Djakarta         Persidja                    2-4 Yugoslavia      [HT: 1-2]

Match Details

Indonesia                   1-5 Yugoslavia

Dec 23, Djakarta, Ikada Stadion; ref: Sarim (Indonesia)

Indonesia: Maulwi Saelan; Thio Him Tjiang, Chairuddin Siregar; Phoa Sian Liong, Kwee Kiat Sek,
           Sudjana Rukma (46' Djamiat Dalhar); Jasrin Jusron (30' Hamdani), Achad Arifin,
           Tan Liong Houw, Andi Ramang, Aang Witarsa
Yugoslavia: Petar Radenković; Mladen Koščak, Nikola Radović; Ivan Šantek, Ljubomir Spajić,
            Dobrosav Krstić; Luka Lipošinović, Muhamed Mujić (Zlatko Papec), Sava Antić,
            Dragoslav Šekularac, Todor Veselinović (Vladimir Popović)
            NB: line-up according to Yugoslav sources; Indonesian papers report a substitution of
                Šekularac by Joško Vidošević
Goals: 16' Lipošinović 0-1, 36' Veselinović 0-2, 43' Liong Houw (pen) 1-2,
       48' Veselinović 1-3, 50' Papec 1-4, 67' Radović (pen) 1-5
Half-Time: 1-2
NB: above according to match report in the Preangerbode (which, as far as the Yugoslav goalscorers
    are concerned, coincides with Yugoslav sources); a report in De Nieuwsgier credited the Yugoslav
    goals to Antić, Mujić, Veselinović, Vidošević and Koščak, in that order (and also had goal times
    differing by up to 7 minutes)


About this document

Sources included: Java-bode, De Nieuwsgier (both Djakarta newspapers), Preangerbode (Bandung newspaper), http://www.11v11.com/ (match details 9 Sep 1956), http://hnkborovo.webs.com/nogomet1.htm (match details 12 Sep 1956), various German and Soviet sources

Thanks to Henry Kurniadi, Mark Cruickshank and Neil Morrison

Prepared and maintained by Karel Stokkermans for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation

Author: Karel Stokkermans
Last updated: 2 Apr 2020

(C) Copyright Karel Stokkermans and RSSSF 2012/20
You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the author. All rights reserved.