Below par RI continues its winning run
Below par RI continues its winning run
By Budiman Moerdijat
JAKARTA (JP): Although Indonesia's soccer team won by two
goals to nil in yesterday's match against the Philippines at the
Senayan stadium, the performance was nothing like as good as
Thursday's 4-0 crushing of Malaysia.
"It's difficult for the players because they have played four
matches in a week," Indonesian coach Henk Wullems said at the
post-match press conference.
The Philippines surprisingly started much the stronger. For
the first five minutes, the 100,000 crowd were stunned into
silence by the Philippines' audacity in coming forward.
Despite their aggressive intentions the visitors did not
trouble Kurnia Sandy's goal.
Indonesia eventually woke up after 10 minutes and started to
attack. In the 13th minute Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto was fouled by
Philippines defenders Gil K. Talavera and Judy D. Saluria in the
penalty area.
Myanmar referee U. Thein M. Thein had no hesitation in giving
Indonesia the penalty.
But captain Fachry Husaini, who had scored twice from the spot
in the previous match, saw his shot saved brilliantly by Jose
Carpio.
A minute later, Kurniawan's long-distance drive also failed to
find the net. His kick went wide and to the right.
Indonesia finally broke the deadlock in the 19th minute when
defender Nuralim headed on a cross from Anang Makruf into the box
and Uston Nawawi volleyed it into the net.
Uston was only playing yesterday because Bima Sakti had been
given a red card in the match against Malaysia and was suspended.
The host will lose its cold-blooded defender Chairil Anwar in
its semifinal as he was given his second yellow card of the
tournament in yesterday's match for a scything tackle on Rodolfo
Del Rosario in the 33rd minute.
In the 36th minute, left wingback Aji Santoso was substituted
because he picked up an ankle injury. He was replaced by Herman
Zantiago Pulalo.
Despite further clearcut opportunities Indonesia went into the
half-time interval without adding to its tally.
From the start of the second half it was clear Indonesia
wanted to step up the pace of the game.
In the 60th minute midfielder Widodo Cahyono Putro almost
added a second goal, but the ball was blocked by a Philippines
defender meters from the line with Carpio well beaten.
Widodo, who had been playing well below form, was replaced by
Ronny Wabia in the 73rd minute.
The decision to play Ronny proved to be a stroke of genius by
Wullems. Three minutes after he came on, Ronny squared the ball
from the left to the penalty spot where Kurniawan, running in
from outside the area, blasted the ball home with his right foot.
This was Kurniawan's fourth goal of the tournament and capped
a fine all-round performance. If there had been a man-of-the-
match award, he certainly would have got it.
The crowd went crazy at the second goal and started to sing
the famous "Ole-Ole" chant. Hundreds of spectators carrying the
Persebaya banners started to beat the drums they had brought into
the stadium.
Some fans in the upper tribune were so excited they started
burning paper and lighting firecrackers. Match officials, having
failed to calm the supporters, stopped the game for a few minutes
until order was restored.
This break seemed to cause the players from both teams to lose
their concentration and the game fizzled out into a boring
passing exhibition.
The victory strengthened Indonesia's position at the top of
group B. It has 10 points after its four round robin matches and
is guaranteed top spot and a game against the second placed team
from group A.
In the first Group B yesterday, Vietnam defeated lowly Laos 2-
1. Ananh Thepsouvanh gave the Laotians a surprise 3rd minute lead
but they lost it two minutes later when Vu Minh Hueu equalized.
The nippy striker scored his second and Vietnam's winner in the
75th minute.
Results
Group A:
Singapore 1 Brunei Darussalam 0 (ht. 0-0)
Thailand 4 Cambodia 0 (ht. 3-0)
Standings:
P W D L Gf Ga Pts
Thailand 3 3 0 0 12 1 9
Singapore 3 2 1 0 5 3 7
Myanmar 3 1 1 1 9 5 4
Cambodia 3 1 1 1 5 6 3
Brunei 4 0 0 4 1 17 0
Group B:
Vietnam 2 Laos 1 (ht. 1-1)
Indonesia 2 Philippines 0 (ht. 1-0)
Standings:
Indonesia 4 3 1 0 13 4 10
Malaysia 3 2 0 1 5 4 8
Vietnam 3 1 1 1 4 4 4
Laos 3 1 0 2 7 8 3
Philippines 3 0 0 3 1 10 0