Indonesia overcomes Vietnam in SEAG soccer
Indonesia overcomes Vietnam in SEAG soccer
KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Indonesia defeated plucky Vietnam 1-0 in a highly charged encounter at the Southeast Asian Games soccer competition that saw both teams reduced to 10 men for nearly the entire game on Thursday.
Vietnam lost skipper Nguyen Quoc Trung, while Indonesia had to play without striker Purwanto from the fourth minute. Both men were sent off by referee R. Vijay from Singapore after they got into a scuffle.
In the 88th minute, Vietnam lost substitute Tran Anh Tuan when he was flashed the red card for a rough tackle on Indonesia's Firman Utina.
Indonesia earned its three points through striker Maman, nine minutes before the final whistle.
Indonesian coach Beny Dollo praised Vietnam for being fast on the attack.
"But after they lost their captain, we had a slight advantage and were able to string our moves," he said. "It was the turning point of the game.
Vietnam coach Edson Dido Silva said that his team lost because it failed to convert at least three good chances in the first half.
"If we had managed to score at least a goal in the first half, the whole thing would have changed," he said. "Our pattern of play changed drastically after having two players sent off."
In the women's category, Thailand beat Malaysia 2-1 and Myanmar edged the Philippines 1-0 to qualify for the semifinals.
Earlier in the day, the second batch of Indonesian athletes arrived here for the 21st SEA Games, which open on Saturday.
The athletes of several sports, including badminton, tennis, basketball, volleyball, tae kwon do, squash and judo were greeted by school students clad in Malaysian traditional attire at the Sultan Abdul Aziz airport.
Missing in the group were badminton men's doubles player Candra Wijaya and tennis women's singles player Angelique Wijaya.
"I don't know where Candra is, but he has told me that he would catch the second batch or fly with the third batch on Friday," teammate Tony Gunawan said.
Tony speculated that family commitments were the reason for the late arrival of Candra, his partner in winning the Olympic gold medal.
"I guess he is reluctant to leave his wife alone after several outings. He's slated to take part in a super grand prix series in China right after the SEA Games," Tony added.
Wimbledon junior champion Angelique is still playing at the US Open, where she reached the third round.
Back in Jakarta, the Indonesian Tae Kwon Do Association (TI) expressed disappointment that the National Sports Council (KONI) had backed away from its promise to provide equipment for TI athletes competing in to Kuala Lumpur Southeast Asia (SEA) Games.
"I'm disappointed with KONI. It promised that the athletes' equipment would be provided for the third stage of training," TI secretary-general Adrian Lumowa said in Jakarta on Thursday, as quoted by Antara. (01/nvn)