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Lutfhi’s single goal takes Indonesia to AFF final
One step closer: Indonesia’s players celebrate their 1-0 victory over Vietnam in the AFF Cup semifinal
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ne step closer: Indonesia’s players celebrate their 1-0 victory over Vietnam in the AFF Cup semifinal. The national team advanced to the final.(Antara)
Lutfhi Kamal Baharsyah’s successful execution of a free kick in the 70th minute during the semifinal against Vietnam has taken the Indonesian under-22 national team to the final of the AFF U-22 Championship.
The team will face either Cambodia or Thailand who will play their semifinal on Sunday.
Lutfhi’s goal was the light at the end of the tunnel for the Indonesian youngsters as they had repeatedly penetrated the opponent with no avail. Antara reported on Sunday that during the first 45 minutes Indonesia had delivered a wave of attacks, but the opponents snuffed out every threat.
Both sides showed equal preparedness and thick defensive strategies to protect their goal.
Witan Sulaiman created an opportunity when he crossed the ball to Marinus Wanewar, but his header was comfortably dealt with by goalkeeper Phan Van Bieu. There was a heated moment when Osvaldo Haay got carried away following unexpected physical contact with a Vietnamese player but Marinus came to rescue the situation.
Nur Hidayat’s failure to tackle and blunder by passing to Vietnam’s Tran Duc Nam prompted coach Indra Sjafri to replace Sani Rizki Fauzi with M. Rafi Syarahil in the 60th minute.
Ten minutes after the replacement Bian Zola Nasrulloh Nugraha was fouled outside the penalty box after Marinus passed him the ball. The free kick was executed by Lutfhi and Indonesia took the lead.
In response, Vietnam’s coach Quoc Tuan replaced Nguyen Huu Than with top scorer Tran Danh Trung. In the 84th minute, Indonesian defender Rafi snuffed out an attack by sweeping the ball from Vietnam’s player who threated Indonesia’s goal.
Indonesia reached the semifinals after beating Cambodia 2-0 in the Group B qualifiers. Previously on its first two matches, Indonesia was forced to get draw results 1-1 against Myanmar and 2-2 with Malaysia after that.
Coach Indra Sjafri previously said he had expected the team to show its worth and not just escape the group stages but come home with the AFF U-22 cup in hand.
“Our target is to take the AFF U-22 cup home,” he said.
He acknowledged that some of his players were targeted and provoked during the match. He said Marinus Wanewar was among those players. However, he said he always had confidence that Marinus would never fall for such a strategy.
“I have spent quite some time with Marinus and I know he possess the temperament to handle any situation,” coach Indra, who added Marinus is growing in stature.
