JAKARTA (30 Dec 2010) – It was disappointing for sure but Indonesian captain Firman Utina said after their loss to Malaysia in the final of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 last night, the team should not be chastised as they had already done their best.
Malaysia emerged as first time winners of the AFF Suzuki Cup when they best Indonesia 4-2 in the two-legged final that was played in Kuala Lumpur and also Jakarta.
Firman, who picked up USD10,000 for his effort in winning the Most Valuable Player award, said that he is as sad and disappointed over the loss as any other Indonesians.
“I feel sorry for the fans especially when we were having such a good run in the preliminary round and also the semi-finals. We are just as disappointed as anyone else in Indonesia,” said Firman.
“But this is football, sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. But it is important that the fans understand this. There’s no point in pointing fingers as we are a team and while we may not do well this time round, there’s always the next match to look forward to.”
Firman was the livewire of the Indonesia national side after taking over the mantle of midfield general from former captain Ponaryo Astaman.
And while he was instrumental in the team’s performance in the earlier matches, his missed penalty last night brought up questions ‘as to what could have been’ for Indonesia.
“As the coach said, it could have gone either way. We could have won or we could have also lost it. Football is played over 90 minutes and our mistake was perhaps the big loss in Kuala Lumpur,” added Firman.
“It was always going to be tough to overturn a 3-0 deficit and the young Malaysian defence was resolute.
“For me personally, we have a good team. It is such that we need more time to bring things together. I just would like to thank the fans for their undying support.”
