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