TWO-GOAL BAMBANG SINKS THAIS, PAVES THE WAY FOR MALAYSIA

But more importantly, his goals paved the way for Malaysia to finish second after demolishing Laos 5-1 in a match played simultaneously in Palembang today.

Indonesia ended with a flourish, reeling in a maximum nine points while Malaysia completed the preliminary fixtures with four points. Thailand finished with two while Laos had one.

Indonesia and Malaysia will have to wait for the outcome of tomorrow’s matches in which defending champions Vietnam take on Singapore while surprise package Philippines attempt to make a historic semifinal appearance with an easy tie against out-of-contention Myanmar.

Bambang, who was surprisingly left out of the starting line-up in all three matches by the coach in favour of Christian Gonzalez and Irfan Bachdim, came on in the 58th minute when it was still scoreless. Bambang, who wanted to prove that he was still deadly, replaced Irfan. But 10 minutes later, Suree Sukha blasted the Thais ahead.

Then came the first of two penalties which Bambang, despite not scoring any goals earlier, stepped up to convert in the 82nd minute. Five minutes later Panupon Wangsa was booked a second time by Japanese referee Sato Ryuji.

Sato awarded a second penalty about a minute after the clock showed 90 minutes. And once again, Bambang took the responsibility and once again made no mistake to deliver a famous victory over the Thais. Oddly enough, several hundred miles away across the Straits of Malacca, Malaysian fans were also celebrating Bambang’s goals which confirmed their team’s place in the semifinals.

Earlier in the first half, Thailand, although not at their physical best, managed to fend off the early attacks from a spirited Indonesian side who were inspired by over 60,000 screaming fans. The atmosphere was simply electrifying as the fans gave a passionate rendition of their anthem. And from that moment on, the fired up Indonesia players took the fight to their opponents.

Indonesia, who were expected to field several reserves as they had already qualified as champions, instead made only three changes with Tony Sucipto, Eka Ramdani and Muhamad Roby standing in for Ahmad Bustomi, Hamka Hamzah and the ineligible Firman Utina, who was skipper in their first two games.

Thailand, who needed a win to keep their hopes alive, played it cool and absorbed the barrage of attacks from pin-up star Irfan, Christian and Oktavanius Maniani. In fact, in the early minutes of the game, the Thais had a nasty scare when their goalkeeper Sinthaweechai Hathairattanakool was involved in a clash with an Indonesia striker. He had to be stitched up but continued playing.

Keeping the many Indonesian attacks in check were skipper Nataporn Phanrit and fellow defender Panupong Wongsa.

“I made some changes to the team which I felt were necessary. And they all did well, I felt that draw was a fair score for 90 minutes,” said Alfred Riedl. He went on to praise his boys for not giving up the battle despite being a goal down. “There were better in the second half.”

He said the players would be given a day’s rest and training will resume on Friday. “I will be heading to Hanoi tomorrow.”

Thai coach Bryan Robson said that he was happy with the overall performance of the team. “Overall I was happy with the team but the decisions have not been going our way throughout this tournament. If we had received the penalty in the first half, it would have been different.”

INDONESIA: Markus Harison Rihihina (GK), Mohamad Nasuha, Zulkifli Syukur, Maman Abdurachman, Tony Sucipto, Eka Ramdani (Ahmad Bustomi, 83rd), Christian Gerard Alfaro Gonzalez, Oktavanius Maniani (Arif Suyono, 69th), Muhamad Roby, Irfan Haarys Bachdim (Bambang Pamungkas, 58th), Muhammad Ridwan.
Goalscorers: Bambang Pamungkas (82nd, 91st)
Yellow: nil
Red: nil

THAILAND: Sinthaweechai Hathairattanakool (GK), Suree Sukha (Suchao Nutnum, 76th), Natthapong Samana, Suttinin Phukhom, Nataporn Phanrit (C), Datsakorn Thonglao (Terdsak Chaiman, 67th), Teerasil Dangda, Rangsan Vivatchaichok, Panupong Wongsa, Kirati Keawsombut (Sarayoot Chaikamdee, 74th), Naruphol Ar Romsawa
Goalscorers: Suree (68th)
Yellow: Suree (42nd), Teerasil (52nd), Panupong (79th, 87th), Sarayoot (91st)
Red: Panupong (87th)

AFF SUZUKI CUP 2010, FINAL ROUND RESULTS and FIXTURES

Group A – Jakarta, Indonesia (GELORA BUNG KARNO STADIUM, JAKARTA)

1 Dec: THAILAND 2 LAOS 2, INDONESIA 5 MALAYSIA 1

4 Dec: THAILAND 0 MALAYSIA 0, LAOS 0 INDONESIA 6

7 Dec: MALAYSIA 5 LAOS 1, INDONESIA 2 THAILAND 1

Group B – Hanoi, Vietnam (MY DINH NATIONAL STADIUM, HANOI)

2 Dec: SINGAPORE 1 PHILIPPINES 1, VIETNAM 7 MYANMAR 1

5 Dec: SINGAPORE 2 MYANMAR 1, PHILIPPINES 2 VIETNAM 0

8 Dec: Myanmar vs Philippines (1930hrs at Hien Truong Stadium, Nam Dinh) / Vietnam vs Singapore (1930hrs at My Dinh National Stadium, Hanoi)

Caption: Bambang Pamungkas celebrates. Christian is tackled by Thai skipper Nataporn