The surprise of the tournament, Indonesia, has one hand within the AFF Suzuki Cup after beating favourites Thailand 2-1 in the primary leg of the two-legged final, making up for lost ground.
Garudas fired up their fans with their good run on this tournament, with a young team brought together by coach Alfred Riedel.
Tickets for the primary leg of the ultimate, which shall be held on the 30,000-seater Pakansari Stadium in Bogor, near Jakarta, were extremely popular and sold out quickly.
The Thais are the favourites on this 12 months’s tournament and took the lead within the thirty third minute.
Teerasil Dangda prolonged his tournament tally to 6 goals by heading in a cross from Theeraton Bunmathan to present the visitors a 1-0 lead on the break
Indonesia began the second half thoroughly and equalised within the sixty fifth minute when Rizki Pora scored from long range.
Five minutes later, Rizki took over as playmaker, passing the ball to Hansam Pranata, who scored Indonesia’s second goal, which proved to be the winner.
Although Indonesia leads the general standings, Thailand’s War Elephants will rating the decisive away goal within the return match on the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok.
A 1-0 win within the return match can be enough for Thailand to secure a fifth Suzuki Cup, while a draw can be enough for Indonesia to tug off considered one of the most important upsets within the tournament’s 20-year history.
The tournament decider on Saturday (17 December) will start at 6pm (Singapore/Hong Kong time).
