"We spend time watching Brazil and Argentina, but when will Indonesia play in World Cup?", he asked rhetorically when opening the congress of the Indonesian Youth National Committee (KNPI).

Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Adyaksa Dault, who was present at the occasion, responded with a smile.

Kalla pointed to the Cote d'Ivorie and Ghana, whose population is less than five million each, were able to qualify to the world's most-watching sporting event.

"But when I was asked about that, I have to defend myself by saying that China with a population of 1.4 billion also didn't make it this time," he joked.

Indonesia is the world's fifth most population nation with 230 million. Although soccer is one of the most favorite sports in the country, the last time Indonesia won an international trophy was in 1992, when it was crowned gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games.

Kalla recalled an informal conversation with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi in a recent meeting.

Koizumi asked the two leaders their most favorite sports and both Kalla and Badawi suggested soccer. They began chatting about soccer until Kalla realized that Japan qualified to the World Cup in Germany while Indonesia and Malaysia were not even close to.

"So I told Badawi in Malay language 'let's end this conversation'," said Kalla.