Courtesy:
The Jakarta GlobeIndonesia Blanks Malaysia to Secure Asean Futsal CrownApril 11, 2010The national team made history on Sunday when it won the 2010 Asean Football Federation Futsal Championship in Vietnam.
Indonesia routed Malaysia 5-0 in the grand final at Phu Tho Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, to claim its first ever international futsal trophy.
“This is a historic moment,” captain Vennard Hutabarat said after the match. “This victory is for all Indonesian people who have been waiting and believe that the team is capable of achieving something on the international stage.”
Indonesia assumed the title of AFF champion from Thailand, which had won the previous seven tournaments. The Thais skipped this year’s event, choosing instead to play in a domestic tournament, the Thailand 5s.
Jaelani Ladjanibi scored Indonesia’s first goal in the ninth minute, but it proved to be the only goal in the first half.
Indonesia, which beat Malaysia 6-0 in the round-robin group stage, looked more lively after halftime.
Vennard doubled the lead three minutes after the break and Denny Handoyo added the third in the 26th minute.
Socrates Matulessy made it 4-0 in the 36th before Haidar completed the rout three minutes before full time.
Vennard said the victory would give the squad more confidence going into the 2010 AFC Futsal Championship finals.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, will host the Asian championship from May 23-30. Indonesia was drawn in Group A with the host, Lebanon and Taiwan.
Ferry Paulus, the Indonesian Futsal Committee chairman, said the team would be ready for the Asian Championship.
“We’ve been preparing several international friendlies for the team before going to Tashkent,” he said. “The trophy boosted our confidence to qualify from Group A and go to the knockout round.”
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