PEKANBARU (6 July 2012) – Hosts Indonesia did not get the start they were looking for when they fell to Australia 1-0 as Singapore picked up the full points after beating Timor Leste 2-1 on the first match day of Group E of the AFC Under-22 Asian Cup qualifiers at the Riau Main Stadium.
In front of a crowd of well over 45,000, the Indonesians side was done in by a solitary strike from Anthony Proia at the tail end of the first half. And while Andik Vermansyah (pix) and Co. tried hard to get back into the game to secure at least the one point, the Aussies stood firm for their first full points in the qualifiers.
“We are still confident of making the next round in spite of the loss to Australia,” said Lestiadi, the assistant coach of the Indonesia U22 team.
In the meantime, Singapore had a late strike from Madhu Mohana to thank for their 2-1 win over Timor Leste. Striker Fareez had given the young Singapore side the lead on 44 minute but Timor fought back with the equaliser through Diogo Rangel in the 66th minute.
But Madhu then made sure of the full points for the side from Singapore with the winner nine minutes to the end. At the end of the first match day in the group, Japan lead the standings after thrashing Macan 6-0.
CURRENT GROUP E STANDINGS
| TEAM |
P |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
PTS |
| JAPAN |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
6 |
3 |
| SINGAPORE |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
| AUSTRALIA |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
| TIMOR LESTE |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
-1 |
0 |
| INDONESIA |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
-1 |
0 |
| MACAU |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
-6 |
0 |
