Courtesy: The Jakarta Globe


Indonesia Salvages Pride With 3rd Place

June 14, 2009

A tumultuous run through the AFF Futsal Championship came to a fitting end for Indonesia.

It bounced back from a shootout loss to host Vietnam in the semifinals to score an unconvincing 4-3 defeat of the Philippines in the third-place match at Phu Tho Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday.

“I can’t understand why they played like that. Against a team like the Philippines, we should’ve won by a bigger margin,” Indonesia coach Justinus Lhaksana said.

Jason de Jong put the Philippines ahead after five minutes, only for captain Denny Handoyo to equalize in the 16th.

Hendra and Tofiqurahman struck within three minutes of each other after halftime to give Indonesia a 3-1 edge.

Bahadoran Misagh cut the lead to 3-2 in the 37th, but Sayan Karmadi restored Indonesia’s lead a minute later. De Jong scored the final goal in the 39th.

The final between Thailand, which won its semifinal against the Philippines 8-2, and Vietnam finished after press time.

Indonesia dropped into the third-place match following an 11-10 penalty shootout loss to Vietnam after the two teams finished extra time knotted at 3-3.

Denny said the semifinal loss would not have happened with better support from the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI).

“I hope the PSSI will put more attention on the futsal team, especially during preparation time before we’re playing in international tournaments,” he said.

“Training camp is a fundamental part for every sport if we want to achieve something in a tournament.”

Players received Rp 1 million ($100) per day as a daily stipend in Vietnam, less than half the normal stipend given to national athletes, and the National Futsal Body has said it cannot offer players any bonuses.

“The hardships bring us closer together, and we’ve pledged to always do our best when wearing the national team jersey,” Denny said. “And this is the best we can achieve right now with what we have.”

Qualifying for the 2010 Asian Futsal Cup is scheduled for Dec. 2-9. Indonesia is also scheduled to compete in the Asian Indoor Games in Hanoi, Vietnam, from Oct. 30 to Nov. 9.








Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com