Indonesia’s unexpected second chance of hosting a global soccer tournament gets underway Friday when the Under-17 World Cup kicks off in Surabaya.
The soccer-loving nation of almost 280 million is determined to put on its best show, on and off the field, just months after it was stripped of the Under-20 World Cup hosting rights amid political turmoil over Israel’s participation.
Soccer’s international governing body took the drastic action in March, just eight weeks before the Under-20 tournament was scheduled to start, and Indonesian sports leaders feared long-term sanctions.
That event was shifted to Argentina at short notice, with Uruguay beating Italy in the final in June, and Israel placing third.
In the same month,…
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