KOLEV GRAPPLES WITH INJURIES, HEARTACHE FOR NORIZAN

Indonesia scored an awe inspiring 2-1 win over Bahrain at the Stadium Gelora Bung Karno yesterday while later in the evening, Malaysia were thrashed by a rampaging Chinese side 5-1 in Kuala Lumpur.

While satisfied with the performance of his chargers in the opening game of Group D, Kolev admitted that the team will have to raise the level of their game several folds against their next opponent from the Middle East – former champions Saudi Arabia.

“Although the performance of the players was awesome against Bahrain, we are up against a difficult situation considering that several of the players are currently injured including those to Ponaryo (Astaman) and defender Mahyadi (Panggabean).

In the match, Indonesia took the lead in the 13th minute through Budi Sudarsono before Sayed Jalal equalised for Bahrain in the 27th minute (pic).

However, the Indonesian who were supported by more than 80,000 screaming fans found the winner in the 63rd minute off Bambang Pamungkas who did waste a rebounder.

But while Indonesia were celebrating well through the night, Malaysia found themselves at the wrong end of the pitch when they were humiliated 5-1 at the National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur.

National coach Norizan Bakar said that it was not a start which they were looking for but conceded that his players did not have enough defensive discipline to match China – the losing finalist in 2004.

“We tried to match them but when the players started to lose possession, they also lost shape and that allowed China to take advantage of the spaces,” added Norizan.

“Now it is a question of bringing up the morale of the players which is important, since we will be up against Uzbekistan this Saturday.”