Phl Azkals yield to Indons in close battle

JAKARTA – It was close, just as the Filipinos had wanted.

But in the end, after 90 minutes of action, before a boisterous crowd of close to 70,000, they couldn’t buy a goal.

The Indonesians won, 1-0, at the Bung Karno Stadium here. They shouldn’t be happy with the margin of victory, just enough to push them closer to the finals of the AFF Suzuki Cup.

Their semis matchup resumes Sunday, at the same venue, and the Filipinos, in the semis of the Suzuki Cup for the first time in their lives, will have to win by two goals to make it.

In the other semis matchup, in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysians pulled off a 2-0 win over the Vietnamese, the 2008 champions and surprise losers to the Filipinos during the group stage.

Unless Vietnam wins by more than two goals tomorrow, and the Philippines by more than a goal in the next match, Indonesia and Malaysia will square off for this year’s championship.

The Filipinos tried hard against the Indonesians, but were far from their best, both offensively and defensively. Yes, they got their chances, but they weren’t golden at all.

Indonesia couldn’t afford to lose the match, with their President watching from the VIP section, and lived up to expectations. A loss could have led to a day of mourning in this soccer-crazy nation of 200 million.

At the final horn, some of the Indonesian players kissed the ground.

The Filipinos were just 11 minutes away from a scoreless first half when Cristian Gonzales headed home the go-ahead goal from the left side of the penalty box from a beautiful looper by Oktovianus Maniani.

Neil Etheridge, the 6-foot-3 Filipino goalie out of Fulham, met Oktovianus a little too high for comfort, and it was all the Indonesian striker needed to let it in.

The estimated crowd of 70,000 erupted like they had won the World Cup.

Fireworks and flares, mostly sneaked in by the fans, were lit up from all corners of the stadium, and it took close to a minute for the celebration to subside.

Still, it was a blessing to trail the Indonesians by just a goal after 45 minutes of action. Thirty-eight years ago, the Indons blanked the Pinoys, 12-0, and eight years back, on Dec. 23, in the same stadium, it was 13-1 for the hosts.

The Indonesians, a regional powerhouse, got the first crack at the goal in the 10th minute but Etheridge foil the attempt with a diving save.

Three minutes later, Phil Younghusband almost scored for the Azkals, the ball escaping the hands of the Indonesian goalie, Markus Rihihina, before going out of bounds.

It was a sea of red inside the stadium.

In the 19th minute, Oktovianus came close to the goal but skied it, and on the 23rd, just four minutes later, Etheridge once again blocked a close attempt by the Indonesians.

Then Gonzales headed a cross from left wing, breaking the ice and turning the fans on.

The five-minute drive from the hotel to the venue looked like an eternity for the Filipinos.

As their bus crawled its way through the massive crowd gathered outside the stadium it was clear that they were not wanted.

Raging fans, in red, wearing their team’s colors, banged on the glass windows, almost shaking the bus, throwing dirty fingers and cursing the Filipinos.

It was like the Azkals were being fed to the lions.

As the bus made it through a steel gate, the crowd pressed on it, and as the Filipinos got off the bus, they were met by loud boos, like they’re being sent home even before the match started.

It was pretty much the same inside the 80,000-seat stadium that was almost packed. It would have been a blessing if there were a hundred Filipinos among them.

Ten minutes before the start of the match the crowd, blowing horns that could have been heard miles away, celebrated the arrival of their President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

They can’t wait for the start of the match.

Soon after the coaches of the respective teams came out, and shook hands before parting ways. Then the players marched their way to the field.