Indonesia eye tough opener

JAKARTA: After watching his side manage straightforward wins against Timor Leste and Chinese Taipei in their warm-up matches, Indonesia assistant coach Wolfgang Pikal is expecting a much sterner test when the Group A hosts face Malaysia in their AFF Suzuki Cup opener on Wednesday.

The Malaysians are fielding a fairly youthful side and have been badly affected by injuries in their build-up to the biennial tournament, but Indonesia are not about to take the Tigers lightly.

"I think it's a big test because Malaysia are a good team. I would give us a 60-40 chance of winning the game, mainly because we are the home team so we have a little bit of an advantage," said Pikal, an assistant to his Austrian compatriot Alfred Riedl .

"We know that they have a good team. They have eight players missing who could be in their national team but we also have six players missing so it is not a big factor.

The volcanic eruptions at Mount Merapi badly affected Indonesia's preparations for the biennial tournament, scuppering warm-up matches against Hong Kong and Philippines. As a result, Riedl's side had to settle for less testing opposition in the shape of Timor Leste, who were swept aside 6-0, and the Taiwanese, who were beaten 2-0.

"Our preparations were not as perfect as we would have liked but we can't complain because the eruption of the volcano made some teams pull out of the arranged matches.

"In the end, we had two games against easier opponents. Well, Timor Leste were easy opponents but Chinese Taipei were not because they showed good ability despite their low world ranking."

With striker Boaz Salossa axed for disciplinary reasons, Indonesia's main striking options are veteran Bambang Pamungkas and the recently-naturalised Cristian Gonzales. Riedl is not likely to pair the high-scoring duo together though.

"There is a possibility that they will not play together because they are similar players," said Piekl, suggesting that one of them is likely to partner a younger forward. "Most coaches want to have different types of strikers – a tall one and a fast and tricky one – so we will see tomorrow."

Malaysia coach K. Rajagopal feels that his youthful side will be very much the underdogs on Wednesday in the hothouse atmosphere of the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.

"Indonesia are the favourites, they are playing their first match and they will have a lot of support," he said.

"I want my team to be calm and not get distracted by this sort of occasion. I am not worried about some of the players who are used to playing in this sort of situation but I am concerned about some of the younger players who are playing in this sort of atmosphere for the first time.

"But having watched them at the Asian Games and seen their ability to perform, I am confident that that they will give Indonesia a tough time. I want them not to feel nervous and I am confident that anything can happen even though Indonesia are the favourites."

Although the two sides have met on four previous occasions in the AFF Suzuki Cup semi-finals, with each side winning two games each, this will mark the first time that they have clashed in the group stage.

Malaysia won 2-1 in the last meeting at the Gelora Bung Karno in 2004 although it was the Indonesians that advanced to the final that year after winning the return match in Kuala Lumpur 4-1.


Source - AFF Suzuki Cup