Singapore silence 50,000 partisan crowd with 2-0 victory over Indonesia in ASEAN Football Championship

By REDintern Koh Yizhe

Gelora Bang Karno Stadium, Jakarta, Tuesday, December 9, 2008 - Defending champions Singapore defeated home side Indonesia 2-0 in Jakarta on Tuesday to maintain their 100% record in the ASEAN Football Championship (Suzuki Cup).

Despite taking an early lead through Baihakki Khaizan in the third minute, Singapore were very much on the back foot for much of the match.

In the second half, Shi Jiayi scored a brilliant free kick thanks to a foul on captain Indra Sahdan Daud at the edge of the penalty area to settle some nerves and add to Singapore's tally.

Indonesia did not help their own cause by wasting their possession and sending most of their 13 shots into the stands.

With the victory, Singapore top group A with three wins out of three. Indonesia finish runners-up of the group after their two victories over Myanmar and Cambodia.

Singapore started with a few surprises, with Indra taking the captain's arm band and starting his first match of the championship. Mustafic Fahrudin, who is on a yellow card, was replaced by Isa Halim.

Singapore, wearing their all-blue strip, had a dream start with a goal in the third minute. A perfect cross by Wilkinson from a free kick at the edge of the area was met by the towering 1.9m Baihakki who was unmarked to score Singapore's first goal.

The Indonesians were stunned and the goal shocked them into action as they began to send wave after wave of attacks against Singapore's well-organized back four, with Baihakki turning in a man-of-the-match performance to deny Indonesia multiple times.

Despite having majority of the possession and the crowd behind them, Indonesia were unable to craft any noteworthy chances, with only minimal half-chances that were easily collected by Lionel Lewis.

Isa Halim also proved that Singapore were no pushovers with a hard challenge on dangerman Budi Sudarsono of Indonesia, resulting in Budi having to receive treatment off the field.

Although Indonesia looked the more likely team to score, Singapore did have their chances too, with Indra making a darting run into the home side's penalty box close to the end of the first half.

Instead of passing to the onrushing John Wilkinson or Agu Casmir, he opted to shoot which flew wide and agonizingly out of reach of the outstretched leg of Agu.

With Singapore on the back foot and under constant threat, they were fortunate to keep a clean-sheet at half time as Baihakki rounded off his brilliant performance with a prefect challenge to snuff out an Indonesian attack once again.

The second half started where the first left off, with the defending champions on the back foot, while Indonesia throwing everything they had at Singapore.

However, it was Singapore who scored with a counter-attack. Indra, making full use of his speed, darted towards the Indonesian penalty box. The Indonesian defender couldn’t keep up and was forced to commit a foul at the edge of the box.

Shi Jiayi sent the resulting free kick past the wall and straight into the back of the net, just inside the right upright, out of reach of the despairing lunge of Indonesian keeper Markus Rihihina.

With a two-goal deficit, the confidence of the home side disappeared and the 50,000-strong partisan crowd fell silent. Indonesia began to aimlessly knock the ball up the pitch, hoping that a shot might come at the end of it.

Singapore took full advantage of this and fashioned a chance in the 52nd minute. Agu threaded the ball to the unmarked Ridhuan within the penalty box, but his final shot disappointed as it was dragged wide.

This was followed by a one on one opportunity with the goal keeper in the 57th minute. Ridhuan made space for himself with his pace but opted to shoot from the edge of the area instead of going closer thanks to the pressuring defender. The resulting shot went into the stands.

John Wilkinson too, wasted a chance as his cut-back after a run down the byeline wasn't good enough to reach the lurking Agu.

While Singapore were piling up the chances, Indonesia were resorting to many long range shots that flew awfully wide. Lionel Lewis deserves a mention as the 2005 MVP was alert whenever he was needed.

Despite having few touches in the matches against Myanmar and Cambodia, he proved why he was Singapore's first-choice keeper when he made a world class save to deny #16 Aliyudin's close range effort in the 86th minute. The Indonesian coach Benny Dollo was so exasperated by the miss he picked up a water bottle to hurl at the ground.

The home side had a penalty appeal turned down in the 91st minute when when a shot by an Indonesian attacker hit the right hand of Precious. Calls for a penalty were immediately turned down as the referee waved play on.

As Group A winners, Singapore will now face the runners-up of Group B, which is expected to be Vietnam. Indonesia will probably play Thailand.

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Player Statistics

ROSMAN SULAIMAN
Age: 26 (6/11/82) Position: Defender Club: Home United Caps: 0 Goals: 0 Jersey #: 26

SHAIFUL ESAH
Age: 22 (12/5/86) Position: Defender Club: SAFFC Caps: 0 Goals: 0 Jersey #: 22

Semi-finals: December 16, 17, 20, 21

Final: December 24, 28