YANGON (17 Sept 2017) – Indonesia played one of the most entertaining game of the tournament to blast Myanmar 7-1 to finish third in the AFF Under-18 Championship here at the Thuwunna Stadium.
Despite not making the final, the Indonesians played with a lot of heart as they entertained the few thousand fans with attractive, attacking football to score three goals in the first half before adding further goals after the break.
“I told the players before the match not to be egoists and that probably contributed to the high score today,” said Indonesian head coach Indra Sjafri.
“Myanmar are still a good quality team but I felt that today, we were more motivated. We learn from the mistakes of the last game.”
It was always going to be a battle between two attacking teams but with Myanmar a shade off colour, it was Indonesia who grabbed the initiatives with some quick movements and counter attacking game.
Just fourteen minutes in, striker Egy Maulana Vikri fed a cross to Muhammad Rafli Mursalim to score before adding the advantage two minutes before the half with Witan Sulaeman breaking through the offside trap.
Indonesia finished the half on top with the third goal coming off Egy in the 35th minute as they continued to pile the pressure after the breather in spite of the several substitutions.
Rafli completed his hat trick with the third goal right on the hour while Hanis Saghara Putra (73rd and 90th minute) and Egy (87th) finished things off.
“Indonesia were playing against ghosts today. There was only one team which came into the game and Myanmar was not there,” said a sore Myanmar head coach Raban Benlargi afterwards.
