BINH DUONG (8 August 2019) – Indonesia took a firm grip in Group A of the AFF Under-18 Next Media Cup 2019 when they whitewashed Timor Leste 4-0 at the Binh Duong Stadium as Laos rebounded for a 1-0 win over Brunei DS.
Indonesia, who had blasted the Philippines 7-1 in their opening tie two days earlier, were very much in the same vein as they took full control against their historic rivals.
“Timor Leste put us under a lot of pressure but the players did well to handle it and we came away with the full points and the goals,” said Indonesia head coach Fakhri Hussaini.
In the match that could have an effect to the standings at the end of the group stage, Indonesia were not about to let anything slide as they fought for everything and rarely allowed Timor to push forward.
And even without the speedy Aminuddin Bagus Alfikri upfront, Indonesia were still a handful as it took them only nine minutes to get on to the scoresheet when captain David Maulana fired in a well-taken free kick.
Timor then came close with a fabulous set piece of their own in the 29th minute from Mouzinho de Lima but that miss would be costly as Indonesia then went on to score twice more for them to take a 3-0 lead at the break.
An exquisite one-timer from Muhammad Salman Alfarid beat Timor custodian Georgino Da Silva for the second time on the night in the 40th minute as they then added another from Beckham Nugraha’s penalty five minutes later.
Timor Leste conceded the penalty for Jaimito Soares’s foul on Sutan Zico inside the box.
With the comfortable lead going into the second half, Indonesia stepped off the gas somewhat as they allowed Timor more possession.
But the Indonesian defence marshalled by the sturdy Aminuddin Bagas Arrizqi fends off all onslaught as Timor continued to be frustrated.
As Indonesia then added the fourth goal of the game in the 79th minute through Amancio Araujo, a fracas almost broke out in the dying inutes of the game when Timor’s Salvador Da Silva was red carded for an alleged stomping on Mochammad Supriadi.
In the continued exchange, where the game was stopped several minutes by Thai referee Wiwat Jumpaoon, Indonesia’s Braif Fatari was also yellow carded for his part.
In the meantime Laos bounced back from their loss to Myanmar in their first match to beat Brunei DS 1-0.
Thanouthong Kietnalonglop scored the only goal of the game in the 21st minute with a shot from inside the box as Laos then almost added the second goal if Tee Sihalath had not missed from the spot.
“We should have scored more goals today but we did not. We missed a few good chances,” added Laos assistant coach Vongmisay Soubuakham afterwards.
