JAKARTA (5 August 2012) – It has been more than a year that veteran striker Bambang Pamungkas last donned the red and white of Indonesia and while the result against Valencia CF last night was hard to accept, still he feels confident enough of the future of the national side.
“We still have some several months yet to the AFF Suzuki Cup 2012 and I feel that we have all the right ingredients to whip up a good competitive squad for the biennial championship,” said Bambang after the match last night.
Indonesia, the runners-up at the AFF Suzuki Cup two years ago, were served with a harsh lesson in football last night at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium when they were outplayed by the Spanish giant 5-0.
Pablo Piatti gave the visitors the lead on four minute before Wahyu Tri Nugroho’s goal was beaten for the second time on the night when Paco Alcacer made good on a cross from Fernando Gago in the 12th minute.
The goal at the half was 3-0 with Ricardo Costa nailing the third goal in the 25th minute of play.
Indonesia’s best chance came just after the breather but the strike from Muhammad Ridwan came off the woodwork instead. Disciplined in the attack as well as in the defense, Valencia showed how it’s done when unleashed a stiff grounder in the 50th minute as Alcacer then grabbed his second of the evening later in the game.
“We got some lessons from the game against Valencia so it is important that we take them and improve ourselves for the AFF Suzuki Cup later this year,” added Nil Maizar, the chief coach of Indonesia.
The Indonesia national team is still in centralized training and where they will only break camp for Idulfitri on 15 August. They will report back on 25 August.
