Magnificent Indonesia thrashes Malaysia 4-0
JAKARTA (JP): Four unanswered goals yesterday rekindled Indonesia's hopes of winning the soccer gold medal in the 19th SEA Games.
Playing arch-rival Malaysia in a crucial group B match, the victory hungry Indonesians entertained some 70,000 fans at the Senayan stadium yesterday with a near-flawless attacking game.
The match, however, was tarnished with two red cards reducing both teams to 10 men after just 33 minutes.
Chinese referee Yu Jingyim showed Malaysian defender Zami Mohammad Noor a red card in the 22nd minute for his second bookable offense. He then gave marching orders to Indonesian midfielder Bima Sakti 11 minutes later, also for accumulated yellow cards.
The red cards will bar Bima from Indonesia's last match against the Philippines on Sunday and Zami from the match against Laos next Tuesday. The Philippines became the only pointless team after a 4-1 rout by Laos yesterday, its second defeat in as many matches.
Indonesia, smarting from an upset 2-2 draw with Vietnam on Tuesday, kept up the pressure from the opening whistle, but required a penalty to open the scoring in the 20th minute after Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto was felled by Azmil Azali in the box.
Captain and man of the match Fachri Husaini sent Malaysian goalkeeper Khairul Azman Mohamed the wrong way to give Indonesia the lead. But the home side failed to add to it before half time.
Azman Adnan almost equalized for Malaysia one minute after the break, but libero Sugiantoro stood calmly under the bar Kurnia Sandy had left vacant to keep an Azman drive at bay to deflect the shot.
Indonesia was awarded another penalty in the 53rd minute after Fachri was chopped down by the Malaysian striker Mohamed Azmi. Fachri carried out the second execution as clinically as the first.
Widodo Cahyono Putro, after a series of wasted chances, found the net seven minutes later, courtesy of a Fachri pass. It was Widodo's third goal in the tournament.
Kurniawan joined in the goal spree in the 69th minute when he blasted home an Aji cross from 20 meters.
The 4-0 win puts Indonesia on top of the table with seven points after three matches. Malaysia is now second on six points.
Dutch coach Henk Wullems, a chain smoker throughout the game, was fulsome in his praise of the team. "It was one of the best games Indonesia has played... certainly since I took over as coach.
"They were fighting all the way... The four goals were the right result."
He especially paid tribute to regular substitute Sugiantoro, who replaced veteran Robby Darwis as a starting player yesterday, for successfully marking Malaysia's dangerous striker Azmi.
"I just told him to play this afternoon and he said he was ready," Wullems said.
Malaysian coach Wan Jamak, who refused to attend the post- match press conference, simply told reporters who chased him that losing was part of the game.
"The players were tense," he said adding that the fanatic crowd might well have been the cause.
In a group A match at Lebak Bulus stadium, South Jakarta, Singapore notched up its first win after narrowly beating Cambodia 2-1. Myanmar also kept its chances of moving further alive with a 6-1 thrashing of winless Brunei.
In the women's competition in the Pajajaran stadium in Bogor, West Java, Vietnam outclassed the Philippines 2-0, while Myanmar defeated Malaysia 2-1. (10)
Results
Group A: Singapore 2 Cambodia 1 (ht. 1-0) Myanmar 6 Brunei 1 (6-0)
Standings:
P W D L Gf Ga Pts Thailand 2 2 0 0 8 1 6 Myanmar 3 1 1 1 9 5 4 Singapore 2 1 1 0 4 3 4 Cambodia 2 1 0 1 5 2 3 Brunei 3 0 0 3 1 16 0
Group B: Indonesia 4 Malaysia 0 (1-0) Laos 4 Philippines 1 (3-1)
Standings:
P W D L Gf Ga Pts Indonesia 3 2 1 0 11 4 7 Malaysia 3 2 0 1 5 4 6 Laos 2 1 0 1 6 6 3 Vietnam 2 0 1 1 2 3 1 Philippines 2 0 0 2 1 8 0