BAMBANG DELIVERS WIN OVER JAMAICA

But it took a late left-footed strike from Bambang deep in injury time to deliver the win after his first goal in the 58th minute was cancelled out by Woey Wolfe in the 72nd minute.

Utilising an attacking 4-4-3 formation, Indonesia’s performance against Jamaica was a marked improvement from their first two friendlies against Hong Kong and the Singapore Under-23 side earlier on.

“I am very proud of the players where they have put in 100% commitment for us to win this match over Jamaica,” said Indonesia head coach Ivan Kolev.

“But I had always maintained from the onset that the result of this match is not important as compared to making sure that the players can blend well together.”

Kolev said that even though Bambang might seem to have won the game for Indonesia, he feels that the credit should go to the whole team.

However the uncertainty over experienced midfielders Ponaryo Astaman and Ricardo Salampessy due to sustained injuries is a concerned especially when there are less than three weeks to their first game against Bahrain on July 10.

The match against Jamaica was Indonesia’s second win in three friendly matches following their 3-0 win over Hong Kong and their 1-0 loss to Singapore U23.

Indonesia’s next match in preparation for the Asian Cup next month will be against Oman on June 24 at the same venue of the Stadion Utama Gelora Bung Karno before taking on Liberia on June 30 in Palembang.

For the Asian Cup, Indonesia have been placed in Group D where they up against Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and South Korea.

PIC: Bambang Pamungkas