Indonesia failed to produce a historical win against Puerto Rico when Tuesday's friendly soccer match ended 0-0.

In the battle held at Maguwoharjo Stadium in Sleman, Yogyakarta, the hosting team took an offensive approach with help from senior players Irfan Bachdim and Stefano Lilipaly.

The Garuda squad, number 175 in world rankings, had several golden opportunities to break through the visitors' offensive, but kept failing to follow through.

"It was an interesting match […] I'm a bit disappointed with the result, but happy with the team's performance," head Indonesian coach Luis Milla said after the match, which was the first between the two teams.

"We created so many opportunities, which was good. We need to train more," he added.

The host was presented an opportunity from a corner kick just two minutes after the match started, but Gavin Kwan's heading in response to Irfan's cross was too far from the net.

Irfan, an influential player for the national team, played his part quite well as he managed to make more assists and even created chances to score. His efforts, however, were to no avail.

Indonesia's Marinus Mariyanto nearly scored in the eighth minute with Irfan's help, but the attack was well-countered by the Puerto Rican goalkeeper.

Stefano also showed some class as he tried to break the opponents' defense in the 60^th minute, but his shot was high above the net.

Puerto Rico, ranked 133^rd, did its best to score several times, but Indonesia's Kurnia Meiga did a great job in securing the goal.

The match ended scoreless despite Indonesia dominating almost the whole battle. (nkn)

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