Indonesia maintained their hopes of winning the ASEAN Football Federation Suzuki Cup for the primary time after an exciting 2-1 win over Singapore in Manila on Friday to advance to the semi-finals, where they may face Group B leaders Vietnam.
With Friday’s significant victory, Indonesia moved as much as second place on the leaderboard with a complete of 4
points within the bag, enough to qualify for the following round of the biennial tournament. Meanwhile, defending champion Thailand, who beat the Philippines 1-0 within the day’s second match in Bocaue, collected nine points.
The late riser from Indonesia unexpectedly took control of the match within the second half with two decisive goals from star midfielders Andik Virmansyah and Stefano Lilipaly within the 62nd and eighty fifth minutes respectively – perfect ending that sealed the team’s victory.
The match was already intense, but each teams played very cautiously, constructing set pieces.
Four-time cup winners Singapore received their first yellow card after defender Muhammad Shakir bin Hamzah fouled Indonesian Evan Dimas Darmono within the seventh minute.
Merah Putih midfielders Andik and Evan had scoring opportunities within the thirteenth and twenty first minutes but did not capitalize.
Singapore striker Khairul Amri threatened Indonesian goalkeeper Kurni Meigi’s goal within the twenty sixth minute but again was unsuccessful.
Just a minute later, Singaporean midfielder Muhammad Safuwan provided an assist, which Amri responded to perfectly within the twenty seventh minute with a spectacular shot to present his team a seemingly convincing 1-0 lead.
Having fallen behind, Indonesia, under pressure, tried to fight back, scoring at the least six points through midfielder Bayu Pradana, striker and team captain Boaz Solossa and Andik, but Singapore built a solid defence.
The first half ended with Indonesia playing aggressively, but without effectiveness.
In the second half, Indonesia increased the tempo of their attack in an try to break down Singapore’s previously impenetrable defence.
Defender Abduh Lestahulu tried to link up with midfielder Rizki Pora within the fiftieth minute however the ball hit the Singapore crossbar.
Rizki created one other probability, to which Andik responded perfectly within the 62nd minute.
Singapore endured in trying to search out a solution to equalise but Kurnia showed what he was fabricated from.
A fired-up Indonesia continued to attack under-pressure Singapore, finding the sweet spot within the eighty fifth minute because of excellent coordination between Boaz and Stefano.
Indonesia had more probabilities within the last three minutes, but couldn’t discover a rhythm. The referee blew the ultimate whistle to the delight of the Indonesians.
The AFF Cup is Indonesia’s first international event since world football body FIFA lifted its one-year ban in May. Qualifying for the following round of the event offers hope for a brighter future for Indonesian football.
Four-time runner-up Indonesia has never won the AFF Cup, failing to qualify for the knockout stages in 2012 and 2014.
