Home team sweept away from U-19 soccer semis
Home team sweept away from U-19 soccer semis
JAKARTA (JP): Evening drizzle carried Indonesia's boys away
from the 29th Asian Youth Under-19 soccer championship yesterday
as they ended their last Group A match against Iraq with an upset
goalless draw after a hard-fought, nerve-wracking battle.
Playing in front of a 30,000-strong home crowd, the Indonesian
boys, who desperately needed a win to march into the last four
rounds, displayed tireless attacking soccer against Iraq's safe
play. A lack of coolness, however, prevented Indonesia's never-
say-die squad from scoring a single goal.
The hosts took most of the initiative, with Kurniawan Dwi
Julianto and Indrianto setting up at least three golden goal-
scoring chances for Indonesia in the first half and another three
in the second.
Target-man Kurniawan yielded a thriller a few seconds from the
break with a brilliant solo run to finish Ismayana's long pass.
With only goalie Khalid Risan left on Iraq's defensive ground,
Kurniawan squandered the chance as his cross floated by 10
centimeters from the left bar.
The 18-year-old striker missed another opportunity seven
minutes after the interval when he hit another off-target cross,
with Risan stranded in a daze. Too many missed chances drew tears
from the eyes of a dejected Kurniawan as he left the pitch.
The young Iraqi booters, the object of jeers throughout the 90
minutes of play, got the most dazzling chance five minutes before
the final whistle, when Shnaiyn struck a well-aimed, devastating
shot toward the goal. Substitute goalkeeper Ari Supriarso became
the hero of the game for his fist which sent the ball fly over
the bar.
The Shnayn-led team, finishing second in the group, will join
unbeaten Syria in Friday's cross-over semifinals. South Korea
will meet Japan today. They only need a draw to qualify for the
semifinals.
Trouncing
Favorite Syria celebrated another big win in the previous
Group A match with a 6-1 trouncing of helpless Kazakhstan, with
the Middle Eastern side scoring all their goals in the first
half.
The skillful Syrians, who had secured a semifinal berth before
yesterday's match, set out on the goal spree only five minutes
after referee Daham Ali Kaidat blew the opening whistle with a
20-meter cannon ball from Ahmad Kurdachli. The prolific forward
tallied his second after finishing a cross from Marwan Mouna with
an acrobatic somersault three minutes later.
Trailing 0-2, Kazakhstan boys, losers in their two previous
matches, gave a horrifying answer. They had Syrian goalie Anwar
Seicho laboring with two saving dives in the 12th minute. Seicho
survived another terror four minutes later when he slid to stop
unmarked Saken Kenetaev from finding the net.
But it was Seicho's last dangerous moment. The Syrians
overpowered hapless Kazakhstan with four more goals within 25
minutes.
Standings:
Group A
1. Syria 4 3 1 0 13- 3 10
2. Iraq 4 2 1 1 7- 4 7
3. Indonesia 4 2 1 1 4- 5 5
4. Qatar 4 1 2 1 5- 7 5
5. Kazakhstan 4 0 0 4 5-15 0
Group B
1. Japan 3 2 0 1 4-2 6
2. S. Korea 3 1 2 0 7-6 5
3. Thailand 3 1 1 1 4-4 4
4. Bahrain 4 0 3 1 4-6 3
5. Kuwait 3 0 2 1 3-5 2
Today's fixtures
Thailand vs Kuwait, 5.30 p.m.
Japan vs S. Korea, 7.30 p.m.