I

ndonesia romped to another crushing victory at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium on Saturday night in Jakarta, thrashing Laos 6-0 to qualify for the semifinals of 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup by topping Group A.

Indonesia began the game at a blistering place, testing the Laos keeper several times in the early minutes.

Indonesian captain Firman Utina opened the scoring by converting a 28th minute penalty kick after referee Daud Abbas of Singapore judged Laos defender Saynakhonievieng Phommapanya had brought down Indonesia’s striker Christian Gonzales in the penalty box.

The delight continued for the home crowd of about 30,000 spectators when Indonesian defender
Muhammad Ridwan scored in the 34th minute.

Indonesia continued their lively tempo at the start of the second half, and within five minutes their high quality of place paid further dividends.

Firman Utina latched on to a pass from midfielder Muhammad Ridwan to bag his second of the night, a minute after Indonesia’s Gonzales had shot just wide of goal.

Indonesia were far from finished. Irfan Haarys Bachdim, at 22 years old one of Indonesia’s younger players, confidently stroked in a fourth for his country on the 62nd minute, his second goal of the tournament.

Substitute midfielder Arif Suyono grabbed a fifth for the home team in the 76th minute after a free kick by captain Firman Utina created chaos in front of the Laos goalmouth.

Okto Maniani took advantage of a pass from Irfan Bachdim to glide by two Laos players before slotting in a sixth with his left foot to complete the rout in the 80th minute.

Indonesian head coach Alfred Riedl said his team had played well to qualify for the semifinals by winning Group A.

“We always planned to win the matches. We surely have to thank the fans for their support, and as for the upcoming match [against Thailand next Tuesday], we will entertain them,” he added.

Riedl said the first 20 minutes had been a battle. “But when we managed to make it 2-0, 3-0, the game became much easier for us.”

Riedl conveyed his sympathy to Laos, saying he knew what it was like to finish on the losing side.

Laos head coach David Booth said his team had gone into damage limitation mode quickly, but had failed to end the game well.