Indonesia will face Thailand in the soccer final on Saturday seeking a consolation, following the contingent'€™s failure to defend its Southeast Asian (SEA) Games champion title.

The match at Zeyar Thiri in Naypyitaw will be a high-stake one as Indonesia seeks its first soccer gold since it last won it in 1991.

Indonesia will go into Saturday'€™s match as underdog, not only have they already lost to Thailand 4-1 in a Group B match, but the head-to-head record also favors the Thais.

In their 17 meetings since 1977, Indonesia has only won once against Thailand'€™s 12-victory record.

However, Rahmad Darmawan'€™s side can look back to the 1991 final for inspiration, when their predecessors battled against the odds to beat Thailand in a penalty shootout.

'€œThe players are motivated to win the match. The match is not only about skills and strategy, but mental spirit,'€ Rahmad said, as quoted by Antara on Friday.

Indonesia scraped through to the final after eliminating regional rival and neighbor Malaysia 4-3 in a penalty shootout, while Thailand secured its final ticket with a 1-0 victory over Singapore.

With Thailand looking set to take the champion'€™s title with the highest medal tally, the soccer team is Indonesia'€™s last hope to salvage pride and to return home with heads held high.

Up to Friday evening, Thailand topped the medal table with a collection of 93 gold, 89 silver and 72 bronze medals among 11 participating countries in the tournament.

Indonesia struggled in fourth position with 61 gold, 69 silver, 97 bronze medals behind host Myanmar (70-55-69) and Vietnam (66-72-74)

Indonesia added six golds to its tally, two in kempo, two in vovinam and one each in chess and the traditional boat race.

The golds in kempo were produced in the men'€™s and women'€™s 8-team artistic event.

Luh Gede Arista Dewi and Ni Made Ratna Dewi won the women'€™s dual sword in vovinam while I Gusti Agung Gede Ary Wirawan and I Wayan Sumertayasa won the second vovinam gold in the men'€™s category.

The Indonesian chess team continued to produce gold with the latest, its fifth, coming in the mixed-pair transfer blitz chess.

The pairing of Muhammad Luthfi Ali and Chelsie Monica Sihite scored 13.5 points to end the 14-round competition atop the standings, ahead of Dao Thien Hai/Hoang Thi Nhu of Vietnam.

Teammates Susanto Megaranto/Dewi AA Citra grabbed the bronze.

Indonesia denied Myanmar a clean sweep by winning the 500-meter mixed 20 event in the traditional boat race. Myanmar took the remaining three golds from four events competed at the Ngalike reservoir.

Elsewhere, Indonesian athletes came second in their respective sports.

In taekwondo, Ong Stevanus Ariosuseno was beaten by Nutthawaee Klompong of Thailand in the 54-58 kg division.

Indah Eka Purnama/Dewi Setyaningsih failed to spoil Malaysia'€™s domination in diving at Wunna Theikdi Aquatic Stadium, only finishing in second place in the 3-meter synchronized springboard.

Meanwhile his defeat in the sepak takraw event left Indonesian competitor Nofrisal in tears.

Pairing with Yudi Purnomo, Nofrisal lost to Myanmar 21-10, 15-21, 14-21 in the men'€™s pair final.

'€œI'€™m devastated by the loss. I hold myself to blame because I couldn'€™t hold on during critical situations,'€ he said.

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