Viet Tri – Indonesia indeed deserved to lose to Vietnam in the Group B qualifying match of the 2024 ASEAN Championship. The Garuda played defensively for almost the entire match and created very few chances.
In the match at Viet Tri Stadium on Sunday (15/12), the home team won 1-0 thanks to a single goal by Nguyen Quang Hai in the 77th minute after receiving a pass from Nguyen Tien Linh. The goal was met with thunderous applause by the thousands of Golden Star Warriors supporters present.
Not only that. That goal also quenched Vietnam’s thirst, which had been continuously pressing Indonesia’s defense from the start. A sense of relief was evident on the faces of the players coached by Kim Sang-sik.
That is quite reasonable, as in this match Vietnam struggled to break through Indonesia’s defense. They dominated the match, but often got stuck in the final third of the field.
In the first half, Vietnam only had two shots on target despite controlling 75 percent of the ball. Everything was thwarted by Cahya Supriadi.
Vietnam encountered a similar obstacle in the second half. However, as time went on and stamina was depleted, Indonesia’s defense eventually broke down. Even though there were only two shots on goal in the second half, one of them ended in a goal.
How about Indonesia? Throughout the match, Indonesia played more defensively compared to the first two matches. Individual mistakes were minimal. The defenders also performed brilliantly by cutting off Vietnam’s ball flow or making their shooting attempts ineffective.
However, that effort was not matched by good attacking capabilities. Only two shots were made by Indonesia in this match, namely a shot by Victor Dethan that was saved by Filip Nguyen and a header by Kadek Arel that went wide in the second half.
Without Marselino, who was absent due to a red card suspension, Indonesia indeed struggled to showcase individual actions while building their attacks. The passes launched were easily intercepted by the opponent. No one is able to keep the ball for a long time.
Two dangerous counterattacks created by Dethan in the second half were not able to be continuously produced by Garuda. The attacking initiative only appeared after conceding a goal. However, the remaining time was limited, and in the end, it fell short.
Indonesia now has one match left against the Philippines in Solo on December 21. With almost six days of rest, it is hoped that Muhammad Ferarri and his teammates can recover and perform well to achieve victory. All to keep the chances of advancing to the knockout stage alive.
