Cambodia holds Indonesia to draw

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

After an opening triumphant run over Thailand, Indonesia appeared to put in a shaky performance on the second day of the ASEAN U-17 Soccer Championship, as the host was held to a goalless draw by Cambodia in Medan, North Sumatra, on Wednesday.

During the rain-drenched match, both teams were locked into a fierce battle, but referee Vo Minh Tri produced only one yellow card to Ieng Kayarith of Cambodia.

Indonesia, under English coach Jim Bryden, adopted an attacking style throughout the game. But Putu Waringin and teammates failed to convert the chances into a goal.

"Our players looked tired from their previous match. They attacked hard, only to flop on the final touches," Bryden told reporters after the match.

The Cambodian team managed to threaten the Indonesian goal with its counter attacks, but Hanif Sulaeman managed to guard his goal against intrusion.

A draw also ended the other match, in which Thailand and Cambodia played out 3-3.

The two teams each had one player dismissed from the pitch due to harsh fouls.

The failure to overcome Cambodia, which disappointed home fans, was a contrasting performance to Tuesday's fixture in which Indonesia managed to score full points against Thailand with a 2- 1 win.

Putut was the scorer of Indonesia's first goal in the 23rd minute, capitalizing on a mistake made by goalkeeper Chayut Nakhamnan.

Nakhamnan cleared the ball recklessly when he found that the ball went to Putut, who did not waste the opportunity to drive it into the back of the net.

Thailand promptly responded with a goal from Nopphorn Sueppru, who latched on to the loose ball from Arthit Sunthorpit.

Toni Sucipto scored the second goal from the penalty spot in the dying minute of the first half.

Indonesia leads the Group B standings with four points, followed by Laos (2), Thailand (1), Cambodia (1) and the Philippines (0).

Group A is playing its competition in Kuala Lumpur, with the contenders comprising Brunei Darussalam, Myanmar, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia.