SURABAYA (20 Sept 2013) – Indonesia thrilled over 30,000 fans at the Gelora Delta Sidoarjo tonight when they defeated Timor Leste 2-0 to set-up a final showdown with Vietnam in the AFF Under-19 Championship.
Garuda Jaya scored once in each half through Ilham Udin Armaiyn and Muhammad Hargianto to charge into the final which will be held on Sunday. In an earlier semifinal this evening, striker Nguyen Cong Phuong scored the winner as Vietnam edged Laos 1-0.
The final will be the second time both teams will be facing each other in this tournament. In the group stage, Vietnam recovered from an early goal to beat Indonesia 2-1 and when they meet on Sunday, the hosts will be aiming to exact revenge and in the process lift the trophy.
Timor Leste and Laos will face each other in the third-fourth playoff also in Sunday.
The first half tonight was dominated by Indonesia, which left the Timor Leste players with only a few sporadic attempts throughout the half. Evan Dimas, Ilham Udin and Maldini were in full attack mode and pressured their opponents and it did not take long for the defence to crack.
Just 10 minutes into the game and Indonesia were already celebrating after Ilham whipped in a grounder from the left which swept under a defender and past keeper Fagio Pereira to the far post.
Two minutes later Nataniel Reis’s freekick from the left of the box blasted across the front of the goal but none of his teammates were there to connect into goal. Several minutes later, Evan’s low attempt was two feet off the mark.
Then Indonesia suffered a blow when goalkeeper Ravi Murdianto had to be replaced in the 36th minute after a minor looking clash with his own defender. Rully Desrian, who has not played any matches in this tournament, took over between the posts.
In the dying minutes, Evan forced a mid-level cross from the right but Ilham was just a step too slow to get a clear shot in.
Indonesia sustained the pressure after the break and went on the hunt and after several failed attempts, Hargianto doubled the score on the hour with a powerful drive from about five metres outside the top of the box.
RESULTS – SEMI-FINALS
Vietnam 1 Laos 0
Timor Leste 0 Indonesia 2
