Withe hopes players keep winning run in Tiger Cup

Withe hopes players keep winning run in Tiger Cup

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia is set to host Malaysia in the semifinals of the
Tiger Cup at the Bung Karno Stadium here on Wednesday with coach
Peter Withe expecting his players to continue their dazzling form
from the group matches.

Drawn with host nation Vietnam, Singapore, Cambodia and Laos,
Indonesia emerged Group A winners with 10 points from three wins
and a draw, scoring 17 goals against none.

One of the wins surprisingly came at the expense of Vietnam as
Withe's team stunned them 3-0. Vietnam crashed out, handing the
second semifinal spot to runners-up Singapore.

The Group B matches in Kuala Lumpur had also upsets with
defending champions Thailand that Withe steered to Tiger Cup
glory twice exited ignominiously.

It was Thailand's 2-1 defeat to Malaysia that doomed the Thais
and that Withe wanted his team to learn from ahead of their
semifinal match.

"Against Thailand, Malaysia did not perform well in the first
half but did very well in the second half. They may do the same
against us and we have to be on guard," Withe said during a press
conference here on Wednesday.

The Tiger Cup is a biennial premier soccer tournament among
Southeast Asian nations. It was first competed in 1996. Thailand
has won three times, while Singapore once in 1998.

Indonesia's best performance was runner-up both in 2000 and
2002.

However, this season may give Indonesia good prospects
following its high-flying performance during the group stage.

Indonesia finished at the top after a 6-0 and 8-0 drubbing of
minnows Laos and Cambodia respectively, followed by a stunning 3-
0 win over Vietnam. They drew 0-0 with Singapore.

Malaysia booked a semifinal showdown with Indonesia after
finishing runners-up in Group B behind surprise package Myanmar,
which is now being trained by former Indonesia coach Ivan Kolev
of Bulgaria.

After suffering a shocking 1-0 defeat to Myanmar, Malaysia
stepped up with 4-1 and 5-0 crushing wins over the Philippines
and Timor Leste respectively before they sealed their place with
a labored 2-1 victory over Thailand.

"If you look at our statistics in the early matches, we scored
17 goals and conceded none. If we continue to do this, we will
win the tournament," he said.

Indonesia will play on Wednesday without key players Boas
Salossa and top scorer Ilham Jayakesuma, who were shown red cards
during Indonesia's last match against Cambodia.

But Withe refused to panic, saying others could play stand-in
roles in the absence of the two.

"We should not change our tactics ... My philosophy has always
been the same and that is to try and win every match," he said.

Meanwhile, Malaysian coach Bertalan Bicksel hoped that his
team would be able to shrug off pressure playing inside the Bung
Karno Stadium that can seat up to 100,000 noisy fans chanting
against them.

"We have experienced players and I hope and believe that they
will not be influenced by the huge crowd," he said.

Hungarian Bicksel said that even without Boas and Ilham
Indonesia would remain a strong team.

"They (Indonesia) are, without doubt, a strong team with some
very good players," Bicksel said, adding that Indonesia's
qualification for the recent Asian Cup in China also testified to
the hosts' strength.

Malaysia will host the second leg of the semifinals in Kuala
Lumpur on Jan. 3. Myanmar and Singapore will play their first leg
on Thursday with the second leg on Jan. 4.