Below par RI continues its winning run<\/p>\n
By Budiman Moerdijat<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Although Indonesia's soccer team won by two
\ngoals to nil in yesterday's match against the Philippines at the
\nSenayan stadium, the performance was nothing like as good as
\nThursday's 4-0 crushing of Malaysia.<\/p>\n
\"It's difficult for the players because they have played four
\nmatches in a week,\" Indonesian coach Henk Wullems said at the
\npost-match press conference.<\/p>\n
The Philippines surprisingly started much the stronger. For
\nthe first five minutes, the 100,000 crowd were stunned into
\nsilence by the Philippines' audacity in coming forward.<\/p>\n
Despite their aggressive intentions the visitors did not
\ntrouble Kurnia Sandy's goal.<\/p>\n
Indonesia eventually woke up after 10 minutes and started to
\nattack. In the 13th minute Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto was fouled by
\nPhilippines defenders Gil K. Talavera and Judy D. Saluria in the
\npenalty area.<\/p>\n
Myanmar referee U. Thein M. Thein had no hesitation in giving
\nIndonesia the penalty.<\/p>\n
But captain Fachry Husaini, who had scored twice from the spot
\nin the previous match, saw his shot saved brilliantly by Jose
\nCarpio.<\/p>\n
A minute later, Kurniawan's long-distance drive also failed to
\nfind the net. His kick went wide and to the right.<\/p>\n
Indonesia finally broke the deadlock in the 19th minute when
\ndefender Nuralim headed on a cross from Anang Makruf into the box
\nand Uston Nawawi volleyed it into the net.<\/p>\n
Uston was only playing yesterday because Bima Sakti had been
\ngiven a red card in the match against Malaysia and was suspended.<\/p>\n
The host will lose its cold-blooded defender Chairil Anwar in
\nits semifinal as he was given his second yellow card of the
\ntournament in yesterday's match for a scything tackle on Rodolfo
\nDel Rosario in the 33rd minute.<\/p>\n
In the 36th minute, left wingback Aji Santoso was substituted
\nbecause he picked up an ankle injury. He was replaced by Herman
\nZantiago Pulalo.<\/p>\n
Despite further clearcut opportunities Indonesia went into the
\nhalf-time interval without adding to its tally.<\/p>\n
From the start of the second half it was clear Indonesia
\nwanted to step up the pace of the game.<\/p>\n
In the 60th minute midfielder Widodo Cahyono Putro almost
\nadded a second goal, but the ball was blocked by a Philippines
\ndefender meters from the line with Carpio well beaten.<\/p>\n
Widodo, who had been playing well below form, was replaced by
\nRonny Wabia in the 73rd minute.<\/p>\n
The decision to play Ronny proved to be a stroke of genius by
\nWullems. Three minutes after he came on, Ronny squared the ball
\nfrom the left to the penalty spot where Kurniawan, running in
\nfrom outside the area, blasted the ball home with his right foot.<\/p>\n
This was Kurniawan's fourth goal of the tournament and capped
\na fine all-round performance. If there had been a man-of-the-
\nmatch award, he certainly would have got it.<\/p>\n
The crowd went crazy at the second goal and started to sing
\nthe famous \"Ole-Ole\" chant. Hundreds of spectators carrying the
\nPersebaya banners started to beat the drums they had brought into
\nthe stadium.<\/p>\n
Some fans in the upper tribune were so excited they started
\nburning paper and lighting firecrackers. Match officials, having
\nfailed to calm the supporters, stopped the game for a few minutes
\nuntil order was restored.<\/p>\n
This break seemed to cause the players from both teams to lose
\ntheir concentration and the game fizzled out into a boring
\npassing exhibition.<\/p>\n
The victory strengthened Indonesia's position at the top of
\ngroup B. It has 10 points after its four round robin matches and
\nis guaranteed top spot and a game against the second placed team
\nfrom group A.<\/p>\n
In the first Group B yesterday, Vietnam defeated lowly Laos 2-
\n1. Ananh Thepsouvanh gave the Laotians a surprise 3rd minute lead
\nbut they lost it two minutes later when Vu Minh Hueu equalized.
\nThe nippy striker scored his second and Vietnam's winner in the
\n75th minute.<\/p>\n
Results<\/p>\n
Group A:
\n Singapore 1 Brunei Darussalam 0 (ht. 0-0)
\n Thailand 4 Cambodia 0 (ht. 3-0)<\/p>\n
Standings:<\/p>\n
P W D L Gf Ga Pts
\n Thailand 3 3 0 0 12 1 9
\n Singapore 3 2 1 0 5 3 7
\n Myanmar 3 1 1 1 9 5 4
\n Cambodia 3 1 1 1 5 6 3
\n Brunei 4 0 0 4 1 17 0<\/p>\n
Group B:
\n Vietnam 2 Laos 1 (ht. 1-1)
\n Indonesia 2 Philippines 0 (ht. 1-0)<\/p>\n
Standings:
\n Indonesia 4 3 1 0 13 4 10
\n Malaysia 3 2 0 1 5 4 8
\n Vietnam 3 1 1 1 4 4 4
\n Laos 3 1 0 2 7 8 3
\n Philippines 3 0 0 3 1 10 0<\/p>",
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