Indons break ice in first half, win by one

By Abac Cordero (The Philippine Star) Updated December 20, 2010

JAKARTA – Indonesia kicked the Philippines out of the picture last night in another 1-0 victory sending the Indons straight to the finals and ending the Filipinos’ magical run in the Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup.

A crowd of 85,000 came to watch Cristian Gonzales score the marginal goal in the 42nd minute. They spent the dying minutes of the game chanting “In-Do-Ne-Sia!” triggering the party that was to last the whole night.

The Indonesians truly deserved the victory, a duplicate of their narrow 1-nil victory last Thursday. The final score was not a true reflection of how the Merah Putih dominated both 90-minute contests.

Indonesia will face Malaysia in the home-and-away finals on Dec. 26 and 29, the first one set in Kuala Lumpur, and the second in this very same stadium. Malaysia defeated Vietnam in the other semis.

For the Philippines, it’s either back to the drawing board or back home for the seven Fil-foreign players who carried the team to its first-ever stint in the Suzuki Cup semis.

The Filipinos, under British coach Simon McMenemy, created major ripples on their way to the semis, with their tantalizing run taking them to Laos and Vietnam all the way to this soccer-crazy nation.

“Nobody expected us to be here,” McMenemy said before the match.

The last time the Philippines met Indonesia in the Suzuki Cup, which was eight years ago, its team was blown off the field, 13-1. This time, with a couple of 1-0 defeats, it’s pretty clear how it has progressed.

Again, the Filipinos came close to keeping the Indonesians scoreless in the first half.

But in the 42nd minute, after numerous attempts that had the massive crowd going, Indonesia broke the ice courtesy of Gonzales who exploded from 25 yards.

Gonzales, who scored the marginal goal in the 34th minute of Thursday’s match, had just disputed possession with Filipino defenders Aly Borromeo and Rob Geir when he found the opening.

It looked like a longshot, but with Borromeo down, Gonzales delivered, the ball whistling past Filipino goalie Neil Etheridge, who was airborne, by his right.

It was a perfect goal for Gonzales, who was mobbed by his teammates as he faced a section of the crowd estimated at 85,000.

The first 45 minutes of play truly belonged to the Indonesians, and with so many attempts, including a few close ones, it was just a matter of time before they scored the opening goal.

Gonzales came close at least twice in the early going, and each time he missed, the crowd erupted. The crowd cheered wildly each time an Indonesian player got the ball near the penalty box.

The match was barely six minutes old and the Indonesians had gotten two cracks at the goal. Then again in the 11th minute Gonzales faced Etheridge close to the goal, denied by the 6-foot-3 goalie.

Phil Younghusband took a shot at it in the 12th minute, and in the 20th, again, Gonzales was foiled by Etheridge. A couple of plays later, the Indonesians came close to the goal twice.

Ian Araneta, Greatwich and Gier were yellow-carded in the first half due to hard tackles on their Indonesian counterparts. In the 93rd minute, Greatwich took the red card and headed straight to the showers.

The closest the Philippines got to a goal was in the 57th minute when Greatwich’s header came just a foot over the bar, the ball resting on the top net of the Indon goal.

Anton del Rosario also had a chance in the 69th minute, blasting away from 20 yards, and ball being blocked by the Indonesian goalie and bouncing off his chest.

Late in the half, James Younghusband was seen raising a point before coach Simon McMenemy, but it didn’t help the Filipinos any as the Indons again came close to scoring in the 38th and 40th minutes.

Inside their dressing room before the start of the match, the Filipino players hardly showed any signs of Thursday’s loss. The atmosphere was so light, so easy, with loud hip-hop music on, as the players geared up for the game of their lives.

It was the same old thing, the short ride from the hotel to the venue. Being a Sunday, the crowd seemed bigger than last Thursday’s, and members of the Philippine team felt their presence from inside the bus.

As usual, they were met with boos from the thick crowd that had surrounded the stadium, but this time they must have gotten used to it that they totally ignored the crowd, turning their backs on the windows.

As early as noon, the stadium’s parking lot was starting to fill up, and by mid-afternoon fans had started to come in droves. The crowd was so thick the lines to the different entrance doors were seven to 10 deep.

Inside the stadium, an hour before the match, noise filled the air. It’s a bright, massive stadium that can seat 88,000 fans, and by its own standards, it should be fit enough to host a World Cup match anytime.

Indeed, it felt like a World Cup match was to be played.

The Indonesian players were first to take to the pitch for their pre-game warmup, and they were met by thunderous cheers as if they’ve already scored a goal. Again, the Filipinos were booed on their way in.

Members of the Philippine community were more fortunate this time, unlike last Thursday when they ended up sitting way up in the stands, in the middle of rabid and provocative Indonesian supporters.

“When the guards saw us unfurling a Philippine flag, we were advised to keep it instead because of the consequences that may arise. It was pretty scary out there,” said Filipina consul Bernadita Catalla.

“Right there we decided that we would just watch the second game on television,” she added.

But members of the Philippine team arranged something for them, providing the Filipino supporters tickets closer to the VIP section, where the off-court action was more restrained, safer than it is up in the stands.

Most of the fans stayed on their seats as the Philippine national anthem was being played. When it was their turn, they sang so loud that that open-air stadium looked ready to explode.

Again, fireworks were lit from within the stands, again signalling the start of the match.