TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
SEA Games: RI soccer faces tough task against Cambodia
Change Size
Indonesia's Osvaldo Ardiles Haay heads a ball while competing against Timor-Leste in the Under-22 soccer men's team of the 29th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Malaysia on Sunday. Indonesia won 1-0. (Antara Foto/Sigid Kurniawan)
I
ndonesia’s men soccer team will have to seal at least a three-goal margin of victory over Cambodia in its last Group B match on Thursday, to ensure a spot in the semifinals round of the Kuala Lumpur Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
Indonesia's assistant coach Bima Sakti warned his side not to underestimate bottom-placed Cambodia, even though the latter had yet to win any matches in the group stage.
“[Head coach] Luis Milla has reminded [the players] that Cambodia is a good team and we should respect them. Moreover, they will surely go all out because they don’t want to lose in their last [group stage] game,” he said on Wednesday as quoted by the official website of the Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI).
Thursday’s match, slated to kick off at 3 p.m. Jakarta time, will be held at the Shah Alam Stadium and determine the fate of the Garuda team, as it currently stands in third position with eight points below leader Vietnam and Thailand, both of whom have garnered 10 points.
Vietnam leads the group because it has a better scoring aggregate.
The two top teams will face each other on the same day, and the losing side will risk its semifinals spot.
Indonesia needs the three-goal margin of victory to anticipate a possible tie result from Vietnam versus Thailand.
If Indonesia reaches the target, the three countries will have 11 points each, and Indonesia will cruise to the next round with Vietnam — due to having a better scoring aggregate over Thailand.
