Indonesia near first Suzuki Cup title
THE STIRRING run of Indonesia in the 2016 ASEAN Football Federation Suzuki Cup continued Wednesday night as it took the first leg of its final encounter with defending champion Thailand, 2-1, on home soil to come on the brink of winning its first-ever title in the regional biennial tournament.
A runner-up four times previously, the Garudas try to finally break through by holding down the War Elephants in the return leg tomorrow in Bangkok.
Towed by goals from defender Hansamu Pranata and midfielder Rizki Pora, and backed by its rabid home fans, Indonesia bucked a slow start to the match to come up with the all-important win.
Thailand was first on the board with forward Teerasil Dangda converting a nifty cross from teammate Theerathon Bunmanthan at the 32nd minute to give the War Elephants a 1-0 lead which they will hold up to the halftime break.
The Garudas equalized things at the 65th minute care of Mr. Pora who capitalized on a miscue by Thailand to beat goalkeeper Kawin Thamsatchanan.
Five minutes later, Mr. Pranata took front and center by scoring the go-ahead goal for Indonesia by way of a looping header that sent the entire Stadion Pakansari in Bogor roaring in celebration.
Thailand tried to pull even as the match wore on but found it hard to break the Indonesian defense before slumping to the loss, the first for the team in this edition of the Suzuki Cup.
“We did not play well in the first half against the best team in ASEAN but the equalizer for us changed the pace of the game. Sometimes in football, you need this type of goals and that gave us the turn that we needed in front of the fabulous fans here at the Pakansari Stadium,” Indonesian head coach Alfred Riedl was quoted as saying after the match by the official ASEAN Football Federation Web site.
While they recognize that their first leg loss made their title defense a whole lot tougher, the War Elephants nonetheless are upbeat that they can turn things around on their home turf to complete their quest for a fifth Suzuki Cup crown.
“We still have chance (at winning the title anew) in Bangkok,” Thailand head coach Kiatisuk Senamuang was quoted by www. aseanfootball.org as saying.
In the event that Indonesia wins this year’s Suzuki Cup it will be its first title and will impressively mark its return to top-class regional football form after being suspended by FIFA for two years.
But if Thailand is able to bounce back and win anew, it breaks a tie for most Cup titles with Singapore with four while also underscoring its standing as the best ASEAN team right now.