Kurniawan's face-saving goal for Indonesia
Kurniawan's face-saving goal for Indonesia
JAKARTA (JP): Agile striker Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto determined Indonesia's modest 1-0 victory over Hong Kong in an Olympic Games qualifier at the Senayan stadium on Tuesday.
The long-awaited goal came just 10 minutes after an error- prone first half, with Kurniawan volleying a curled pass from Chris Yarangga past Hong Kong goalie Kevin Lok. A dazed Lok, who made a number of superb dives during the match, lost his feet as Kurniawan drove the ball to the left post.
Taking total control over the high-spirited match, the Indonesian teenagers should have scored more than one goal. But a Kurniawan-led trio of forwards bungled a number of chances because of their flimsy finishing touch.
Indonesian captain Bima Sakti failed to form a well-organized squad in the midfield, leaving strikers Kurniawan and Asep Dayat to scramble for misfired passes.
Defender Aples Tecuari stole the show with his tremendous support of Indonesia's relentless assaults. Easing past Hong Kong's three defenders, Aples came within an inch of giving his team the lead in the first half, with Lok the only remaining hurdle. Lok, however, produced a brave dive, snatching the ball faster than Aples had anticipated.
The pressure remained on Hong Kong in the second half, as coach Danurwindo's goal-hungry boys sped up their pace to the delight of their 50,000 flag-waving, drum-beating home fans.
Danurwindo injected fresh blood into his squad mid-half to the final whistle by sending on Indriyanto, goal-scorer in Indonesia's 1-2 defeat to South Korea last week, to replace Nurul Huda. The late substitution paid off, but Indonesia's rejuvenated strikers gave the Hong Kong side no more than threats.
"Unfortunately, we could not let Indriyanto in earlier, knowing that he was not fit enough to play for 90 minutes," assistant coach Tord Grip said. Indriyanto was nursing a head injury he suffered during Indonesia's first match against South Korea.
Hong Kong coach Raymond Ng Way Man praised Indonesia's performance, but warned his opponents of a retaliation in their second meeting in August.
"Indonesia played commendably, especially in the second half. But we believe we can beat them at home," Way Man said.
No change
The victory did not change the Group C standings, with South Korea taking a commanding lead following its two away wins. Indonesia will travel to South Korea and Hong Kong on Aug. 22 and 28 respectively.
The top team of the group will join other seven Asian qualifiers, vying for three berths to the 16-field soccer competition in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
Grip declined to say much about his team's chances in its two away matches, but asserted that the young booters were hopeful of victories. "We still have chances. We will find out what we have to do with our goal-scoring skills," the Swedish coach added.
Indonesia's squad of 20 are taking a break for a week before returning to Italy on June 7. They have been groomed in the world's most outstanding soccer country for the past two years.
Grip has proposed a series of tryouts against a Swedish first division club and the Swedish national under-21 team in July, prior to Indonesia's away matches. (amd)