Host Indonesia routs Maldives 5-0
JAKARTA (JP): Host Indonesia proved it was too mighty for the Maldives by whitewashing the visitors 5-0 in the 2002 World Cup Asia zone Group Nine qualifying match at the Bung Karno stadium in Senayan complex on Sunday.
Indonesia played aggressively, despite its players poor stamina.
Maldives only managed a counter attack just seven minutes into the first half after Indonesian midfielder Agung Setyabudi shot a free kick which was aided by a deflection from Maldives' Hussain Luthfee.
National top striker Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto received a cross from compatriot Bambang Pamungkas and directly fired home six minutes later for a 2-0 lead.
Both Indonesian strikers were forced to play in high rhythm after receiving long passes from other teammates. Kurniawan and Bambang apparently were not ready for this kind of game and spoiled many goal chances.
Indonesia did not take a long time to get on the scorecard after the pause, with a penalty awarded after Ismed Sofyan was tackled by Mohamed Jameel, who received a yellow card for his action.
Captain Bima Sakti successfully executed his task to make the tally 3-0 in the 51st minute.
Indonesia's Uston Nawawi was booked by referee S. Nagaling of Singapore after colliding with Maldives defender. But he managed to redeem his foul only minutes later by scoring the fourth goal on the 61st minutes after linking up with Kurniawan, who was replaced by Budi Sudarsono shortly after that.
Bambang sealed Indonesia's 5-0 victory with a header three minutes later.
Debutante Budi had two more chances before the match ended but he only saw his pass went wide of the goal.
Maldives attempted to close the gap on a few occasions but were continuously thwarted by Indonesia's solid defense.
"My players were chicken," said Maldives coach Josef Jankech with a smile after the match.
He admitted that Indonesia played much better than his team, which blanked Cambodia 6-0 in the qualification earlier this month.
"We made too many individual mistakes and my players' skills were technically below the Indonesians. Indonesia played better in every line and I think it was a very fair match," he said.
Benny pointed out that his strikers were not ready to play in high tempo. He also blamed the hot weather which wore out the players.
"The players were too fast in passing the ball to the front line and consequently Kurniawan's stamina dropped after the first 30 minutes.
"The midfielders should quickly anticipate the passes but, maybe due to the hot weather, they failed to cover the center field and only saw the ball return to their pitch. My players were not accustomed to this kind of play.
Benny also criticized his own players, saying they only relied on counter attacks.
"We have a basic problem that the players always wait for the coming ball when they should initiate the attack. The same thing happened when they were attacked. They only stuck to the ball and didn't even look at their rival's movements."
Indonesia will play Cambodia on April 22 and China on May 27 at home. The national team will fly to Phnom Penh to play Cambodia on April 29 and to China on May 13. (ivy)