Courtesy: The AFC.com


Regional success buoys Indonesia

Monday, 12 April 2010

Ho Chi Minh City: Indonesia enjoyed a massive fillip ahead of next month’s AFC Futsal Championship as they hammered Malaysia 5-0 to win the AFF Futsal Championship on Sunday.

Indonesia went into the decisive match buoyed by a 6-0 victory over the same opponents earlier in the tournament and took an eighth minute lead at the Phu Tho Stadium though Jaelani Ladjanibi but they had to wait until three minutes into the second half to extend their advantage, with skipper Vennard Hutabarat scoring from a free-kick.

It remained 2-0 until a late flurry five minutes from the end gave the score-line a more commanding perspective with goals from Deny Handoyo (35th), Socrates Matulessy (36th) and Ali Haidar (37th) sealing the win.

The Indonesians now turn their attention to the 2010 AFC Futsal Championship where they have been grouped with hosts Uzbekistan, Chinese Taipei and Lebanon.

ASEAN championship hosts Vietnam finished the regional meet in third place and they too have qualified for the continental championship in Tashkent, with the Sergio Gargelli-coached side facing former AFF title holders Thailand, who didn’t defend their crown in Ho Chi Minh City due to their participation in the four-team Thailand 5s, Korea Republic and Kyrgyzstan.

The 2010 AFC Futsal Championship is taking place from May 23 to 30.


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