Indonesia in AFF Cup Final After Dramatic Tie with Vietnam
Jakarta. Indonesia has passed through the semi finals to the AFF Cup final after tying with Vietnam at My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi Wednesday night (07/12).
The relentless Vietnam side attacked Alfred Riedl's team from kick-off with fluid and fast short-passes, holding 75 percent of ball possession in the first 15 minutes. Indonesia, focusing on their defense strengths, shut down the hosts with goalkeeper Kurnia Meiga and center-back duo Hansamu Yama and Fachrudin Aryanto performing strongly.
In the 34th minute, Vietnam's Dinh Thanh Trung sent a free-kick over the wall, inches wide of Meiga's left post. Midfielder Nguyen Trong Hoang followed 10 minutes later with a breathtaking goal attempt blocked by defenders.
Indonesia, who showed no strong attacks in the first half, had their first chance in the second half's early minutes with Stefano Lilipaly's long range effort falling just inches wide of Tran Nguyen Manh's post.
The half-Dutch midfielder finally crossed the scoreline in the 54th minute when he tapped a rebound from Tran Dinh Dong.
Vietnam dropped to 10 players in the 76th minute after goalkeeper Nguyen Manh was spotted kicking Bayu Pradana and was sent off immediately by Chinese referee Fu Ming. The hosts, who had no substitutes left, were force to put central defender Que Ngoc Hai in as goalie.
The hosts finally equaled the scoreboard six minutes before full-time with Vu Van Thanh shot a low drive from the left corner of Indonesia's penalty box after receiving a pass from a free-kick.
The stadium erupted in injury time when substitute Vu Minh Tuan demonstrated perfect ball control and deceived two defenders before scoring with a clinical finish. The 2-1 score was enough to force the game into extra-time.
Void in the defense
Playing with only 10 men didn't see the hosts lose possession and saw the hosts score with a short-pass play after extra-time, although it left defense vulnerable.
Seven minutes into extra-time kick-off, the visitors scored from the penalty spot after an incisive break away forced Vietnam's goalie replacement Ngoc Hai to bring down super-sub striker Ferdinand Sinaga in the box. Ngoc Hai was lucky to avoid being sent off-field after a challenge inside the penalty box.
Manahati Lestusen step up to take the penalty and calmly put the ball down the center sending Ngoc Hai to the wrong side.
The late equalizer was priceless for Indonesia as the hosts would have had to score another two goals to progress to the final, with the aggregate system rules favoring goals from away teams over home sides.
The hosts escaped an even larger defeat with Fu Ming cancelling a penalty decision in the 105th minute.
As the referee blew the final whistle, Lilipaly and his colleagues knew they were going to the final.
"Vietnam were very strong, they were getting stronger all the time, but we did very well in defending," Lilipaly said after the game.
"As you can see, we can beat everyone. We're in the final and we can beat everyone," the midfielder said with confidence.
Indonesia netted 10 goals and conceded 10 goals to reach the final.
Facing the fifth final
Next Wednesday's game will be the fifth time Indonesia reached the final stage in the AFF Cup since it began in 1996, falling short as runners-up in 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2010.
The AFF Cup has been dominated by Singapore and Thailand with both teams having won the cup four times respectively. Malaysia and Vietnam have each won Asean's most prestigious football tournament once.
"We certainly came to try and win the tournament of course but there were many uncertainties. We have gotten better as the event has progressed and hopefully that will continue,” coach Alfred Riedl said.
If Thailand wins their semi final on Thursday, next week's final will be a rematch of the 2000 and 2002 AFF Cup finals, both of which were won by the Elephants during dramatic penalty shootouts.
However, Thai top goal scorer Teerasil Dangda needs to make sure their place in the top spot by maintaining their 2-0 aggregate score against Myanmar in the second leg semi final in Bangkok.
Talisman Teerasil has scored five goals in the tournament, followed by Indonesia's Boaz Solossa and Lilipaly who both have scored three goals.
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