RIEDL EXPECTS MORE FROM INDONESIA

Riedl was appointed to fill the position left behind by Benny Dolo and the match against Persita Tangerang at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta was the first match under the Austrian.

“I can’t say that I’m satisfied with their performance, but I’m not disappointed either. It’s still far from my expectations,” said Riedl.

“But it’s only their first training match and they tried to show their best although we also saw many individual mistakes.”

For the match, Riedl divided his squad into two sides with each playing for 60 minutes.

For the first lineup, Riedl picked goalkeeper Ferry Rotinsulu; defenders Zulkifli Syukur, Maman Abdurahman, Ricardo Salampessy and Benny Wahyudi; midfielders M Ridwan, Ahmad Bustomi, Firman Utina and Atep; and forwards Bambang Pamungkas and Yongki Aribowo.

Bambang did not hesitate to run to the midfield and help Firman create attacking chances. Central defender Ridwan scored the first goal for Indonesia while defender Nova Arianto, who came on for Ricardo, scored the second.

Riedl’s second team was made up of goalkeeper Markus Haris Maulana; defenders Nova, M Nasuha, Yesaya Desnam and Tony Sucipto; midfielders Arif Suyono, Eka Ramdani, Doni Siregar and Habel Satya; and forwards M Isnaini and Jaya Teguh Angga.

The second team’s attack was more free-flowing, as Arif and Habel sliced through Persita’s defense from both flanks.

But it was a defensive lapse that caught Riedl’s side off guard, when Persita’s Dario Batalla converted a spot kick after defender Rahmat Latief was called for a handball.

Holding a precarious 2-1 lead, the national team went to Arif, who found the net twice to seal the team’s victory.

“Isnaini was just unlucky as he hit the post. But the forwards played well, as they helped to make room for their teammates to score,” added Riedl.

The Indonesia national team are preparing for the AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 in December.