Despite a last-minute scare, Indonesia eked its way through to the third phase of the soccer World Cup qualifiers after defeating Turkmenistan 4-3 in the second round of the Asian Zone in Jakarta on Thursday
espite a last-minute scare, Indonesia eked its way through to the third phase of the soccer World Cup qualifiers after defeating Turkmenistan 4-3 in the second round of the Asian Zone in Jakarta on Thursday.
As expected, Indonesia went on the offensive early to the raucous cheers of 80,000 spectators at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Senayan, Central Jakarta.
Striker Cristian Gonzales opened the scoring for Indonesia with goals in the tenth and 18th minute before defender Muhammad Nasuha weaved his way past several markers to add a brilliant third in the 42nd minute to give Indonesia an imposing 3-0 lead at the half.
After the break, however, Turkmenistan’s Arslanmurad Amanov scored in the 72nd minute, but this was quickly countered by Muhammad Ridwan’s goal for Indonesia four minutes later to bring the score to 4-1.
In the dying minutes, however, Indonesia’s complacency allowed Turkmenistan to claw back two quick goals in just three minutes through Berdy Shamuradov in the 83rd and Gahrymanberdy Chonkaev in the 86th.
New Indonesian head coach Wilhelmus “Wim” Rijsbergen congratulated his side for the victory, which came despite a total of only 14 days of training.
“It was football I like to see, especially in the first half. In the second half, our players were tired and lost their control and concentration. Therefore, we conceded two easy goals,” he said at a post-match press conference.
“Nevertheless, it was a good result. Hopefully, it will be a good start for the team in the next round,” he said, adding that the team became complacent after Turkmenistan was reduced to 10 men after Bahtiyar Hojaahmedov was shown red.
“The next thing is to get the team fit to face the next round,” Risjbergen said.
Turkmenistan congratulated Indonesia, saying the host side received huge support from the home fans.
“We could control play in the first half, but we could not add to our score,” Turkmen coach Yazguly Hojageldiyev said.
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