Bambang fires RI to final of Tiger Cup<\/p>\n
Musthofid and Arya Abhiseka, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A late header from Bambang Pamungkas in the second half earned
\nIndonesia a 1-0 victory over Malaysia here on Friday and a place
\nin the final of the Tiger Cup for the second consecutive time.<\/p>\n
Playing before a home crowd of 70,000 inside the Bung Karno
\nStadium, Indonesia, which reached the semifinal stage as the
\nrunner-up of Group A behind Vietnam, had to be content with a
\ngoalless first half.<\/p>\n
Apart from the handful goal chances from both sides, the
\nsecond-half looked to end in a draw until Bambang headed home a
\ncross from Budi Sudarsono in the 77th minute to send the home
\nfans into delirium.<\/p>\n
Indonesia will take on defending champion Thailand, which
\nrouted Vietnam 4-0 in the other semifinal match earlier in the
\nevening.<\/p>\n
The Sunday match will be a repeat of the 2000 edition in
\nBangkok, in which the Thais came out the victor.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's head coach Ivan Kolev said they managed to exploit
\nthe loopholes in the Malaysian defense due to their option for an
\noffense.<\/p>\n
A tense rivalry, with local media describing it as a second
\nepisode of the Sipadan-Ligitan islands dispute in which Indonesia
\nlost to 16-1 to Malaysia, was palpable in the Indonesia-Malaysia
\nmatch, with the players from the two sides frequently resorting
\nto harsh tackles throughout.<\/p>\n
A sign of derision was also shown from the stands where a
\ncrowd of hooligans began throwing projectiles at the Malaysian
\nplayers during the break.<\/p>\n
However, the Malaysians did not seem surprised. They showed an
\nattacking football which earned them an opening round 3-1 win
\nover Thailand during the group matches en route to the
\nsemifinals.<\/p>\n
Eddy Helmi Abdul Manan and Hairuddin Omar particularly stood
\nout on the team with each coming close to scoring many times.<\/p>\n
One of Omar's best chances was when he had a clean shot on
\ngoal but kicked it right at goalkeeper Hendro Kartiko.<\/p>\n
On the other side, Indonesia could have doubled the lead
\nthrough Budi Sudarsono, who fumbled the ball when he had space to
\nstrike through an open space of Azmin Azram Abdul Aziz's goal
\npost.<\/p>\n
Worawoot Srimaka, Narongchai Vachiraban, Manit Noyvach and
\nSakda Joemdee were the goal scorers for Thailand. The win
\nsignaled a return to form for the two-time champs.<\/p>\n
After losing to Malaysia in the group matches, Thailand was
\nlucky to qualify for the semifinal round in Jakarta after playing
\nto a 1-1 draw with Singapore in their last game.<\/p>",
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