Indonesia advances to the semis of Tiger Cup
Indonesia advances to the semis of Tiger Cup
Unbelievably, Indonesia advanced to the semifinals of the Tiger Cup following a surprising 13-1 victory against the lowly Philippines at Bung Karno Stadium in Central Jakarta on Monday.
With this result, Indonesia became the runner-up in Group A and will meet Group B champions Malaysia in the semifinals.
Vietnam, which tops Group A, will meet Group B runner-up Thailand in another semifinal.
Eight of Indonesia's goals were contributed by strikers Bambang Pamungkas and Zaenal Arif, who scored four goals each.
Two goals were booked by Sugiyantoro, one other by Imran Nahumarury and another by Budi Sudarsono.
Meanwhile, Indonesia's 13th goal was an own goal by Philippines' defender Soldmond Licuanan, who kicked the ball into keeper Alvin Montanes' net, two minutes before the referee blew the whistle to end the last match of Group A.
The only goal of the visitors was contributed by striker Aligo at the 76th minute.
Indonesia's slot in the last four of the biennial Southeast Asian soccer tournament was assured after Vietnam, the leader of five-member Group A, defeated Myanmar 4-2 in a parallel match, held at the Lebak Bulus Stadium in South Jakarta.
Myanmar took the early lead at the 30th minute following a strong diagonal shot from striker Lwin Oo from the right, outside Vietnam's penalty box. The ball turned into the net after Vietnamese defender Phan Van Taiem tried to clear it with a header.
Vietnam managed to equalize eight minutes later with a strong shot by Trinh Xuan Tanh from outside the Myanmar penalty box, which goalkeeper Aung Aung Oo could not save.
The Vietnamese then took the lead at the 50th minute with a goal by Dang Phuong Nam after receiving the ball from teammate Tran trung Giang, who passed two Myanmarese defenders.
The goal margin was extended with a third goal at the 68th minute by Dan Phuong Nam and a fourth five minutes later by skipper Lee Hyunh Doc from the penalty mark.
Myanmar managed to lessen the margin with a goal at the 81st minute by Htay Aung. --JP