The Indonesian national men’s football team came away with a 1-nil victory over a selection of Southeast Asia’s best players in a benefit match for those affected by super typhoon “Yolanda” on Sunday at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta.
The Indonesians scored at the 13th minute and held the lead for the rest of the match, taking advantage of the unfamiliarity of players from the ASEAN All-Stars, which only had one day to prepare for the match.
“I was very impressed with what was shown by the players,” Datuk K. Rajagobal, ASEAN All-Stars coach and also a former coach of Malaysia, said after the match. “This considering that we did not have much together and really had just one day of training, not taking into account that the Thai players only arrived today.
“They showed some good flashes and to lose 1-0 is really not too bad.”
Indonesia coach Alfred Riedl was far from pleased on his team’s performance despite the victory.
“I was looking forward to a technically better match but it was not to be due to the rain. The field was poor and that affected play,” Riedl said.
“We had about 10 half chances but we failed to score because the technique was not good enough”
The ASEAN All-Stars were composed of 20 players coming from each nation the region. Azkals veterans Aly Borromeo and Chieffy Caligdong, who replaced Ian Araneta in the lineup, were chosen as to represent the Philippines in the match.
Borromeo and Caligdong played with some of the region’s stars such as 2012 Suzuki Cup Most Valuable Player Shahril Ishak of Singapore, Datsakorn Thonglao of Thailand and Le Cong Vinh of Vietnam.
Apart from “Yolanda” recovery efforts, the match’s proceeds will also benefit of affected by the massive eruption of volcanoes Mount Kelud and Mount Sinabung in Indonesia last year.
