Courtesy: The Jakarta Globe


Victory Over Malaysia Secures Spot in Asian Futsal Championship, but Zone Win in Sight

February 24, 2010

by Wimbo Satwiko

A ticket to the 2010 Asian Futsal Championship is already in hand, but the Indonesian national team’s job is not over yet.

The team secured a spot in the tournament proper, which takes place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from May 23 to 30, with a 5-3 defeat of Malaysia in their semifinal clash in the Asean zone qualifiers on Wednesday. But to make it a perfect finish, it has to beat Australia in the final, which kicks off today at 6:30 p.m.

The Futsalroos made their way to the final with a 4-1 win over Vietnam at the Tennis Indoor Stadium at Gelora Bung Karno in Jakarta.

Indonesia captain Denny Handoyo said he was pleased to have qualified for Tashkent, but wanted to win the zone, especially playing in front of home fans.

“Winning the Asean zone will be a good gift to our fans, as they’ve been giving us endless support since the tournament began,” Denny said. “Without their support, I don’t think we could have made it.”

But Indonesia knows it won’t be easy to finish off Australia in the final, having lost to the Futsalroos 4-1 in a group match on Monday.

Denny said Australia was one of the best teams in the region, but that wouldn’t stop Indonesia from trying.

“We’ll just try our best and see what the result will be,” he said.

Coach Robby Hartono said the team had learned from its mistakes in the group stage.

“There will be improvement. We failed to convert many of our chances into goals, and I hope it won’t happen again in the final,” he said.

Against Malaysia, Robby sent his players into attack mode early on. But it was Malaysia that scored first when Mohamad Fadzil found the back of the net in the 18th minute.

Trailing by one goal, Indonesia attacked relentlessly in the second half and, in the 28th minute, Jaelani Ladjanibi scored the equalizer.

Angga Saputra then gave Indonesia a 2-1 advantage with his goal in the 33rd.

Jaelani scored his second goal of the match with a penalty kick after Jefri Purba was brought down in the box two minutes later. And Jefri hit the fourth goal in the 36th.

Malaysia pulled to within two on a goal by Khairul Rizuan, but Sayan Karmadi sealed Indonesia’s victory and its place in the final when he scored the team’s fifth in the 39th.

Muizuddin Haris grabbed a late consolation goal for Malaysia to make the final score 5-3.


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