Indonesian U-23 soccer team defeated in friendlies

Palembang: The Indonesian national under-23 soccer team was humiliated by its Malaysian counterpart 3-1 during a friendly match at the Gelora Sriwijaya Jakabaring Stadium in Palembang, South Sumatra on Monday.

The first Malaysian goal was scored by Muhammad Amri Yahya on 28 minutes, after receiving a corner from Safik Rahim.

Two minutes later, Baddrol Batiar added a second goal and Nasarul Idham smoothly executed a penalty awarded to the Malaysian team, completing the humiliation with the third goal four minutes later.

The only goal from the Indonesian squad was scored by Sutan Tama in the 40th minute.

"We need more time to prepare a solid team. The Malaysian team was formed in 2007 while our team was only formed two months ago," Indonesian head coach Alberto Rica said.

Rica also blamed the difficulty in summoning players from clubs to join the national team.

"It's not like *national team call-ups in* Malaysia. Summoning a player to join the team requires a lot of effort," said Rica.

Although it was a friendly game, the referee handed two red cards to Indonesia's Sutan Tama and Malaysia's Muhammad Faisal Muhammad after the two fought during the second half of the match.

The referee also handed three other yellow cards for one Indonesian player and two Malaysian players.

The Indonesian team had previously been defeated by the Singaporean team 2-1. - JP/Khairul Saleh