Indonesian Super Foot Ball

JAKARTA - Bahrain defender Hussain Baba believes that the speedy play of the Indonesian players was a huge problem on Tuesday as the 2004 semi-finalists went down 2-1 to the co-hosts in their opening Group D match at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.

Indonesia opened the scoring after 14 minutes through Budi Sudarasono before Sayed Mahmood Jalal levelled the score for the Gulf side in the 27th minute.

However, Indonesia striker Bambang Pamungkas struck the winner in the second half to give his side a stunning win.

"It was a disaster," said Baba. "A nightmare if you would like to say.

"We conceded an early goal and we tried to fix things. We did so and then we missed four or five chances before we paid the price at the end."


Baba, who recently joined Al Rayyan in Qatar from Kuwait league champions Al Kuwait, felt that the main reason for the defeat was the pace of the Indonesians, which caused problems for his team’s backline.

"The first goal came from a quick play as their midfielder played the ball past our defenders and the Indonesian forward (Budi) got to the ball faster than us," he said.

"But the defenders are not the only ones responsible for the goal because the ball was first lost by our midfielders.

"They were lucky with the second goal as the ball went directly to the striker (Bambang) after it slammed against the woodwork. Even if our defenders had covered the play, they couldn't have stopped him," added Baba.

"In general, it was a tough match because we were playing in front of big crowd. Three of the four co-hosts had positive results because they are playing at home and in front of their fans."

The lanky defender felt that his side had not enjoyed the best of preparations for the tournament.

"The preparation was not enough for us," he said. "Mohammed Hussain, Talal Yusuf and I joined the team just a week before the tournament.

"It was also our first official match with a new coach. Coach Macala introduced new faces to the team and those young players were playing their first match with the senior side. As it was the opening game in the Asian Cup, there was a big pressure on them and it was obvious as they were confused."

Despite the defeat, Baba believes that his side still have a chance to go through from the group and that four points from their next two matches will be enough for them.

"We lost against a team who were not considered as favourites and I don't think that Indonesia will get any other points," said the 25-year-old defender. "Four points are enough for us to qualify because if we got a point against Korea Republic and a win against Saudi Arabia or vice versa, it will be enough for us.”

Baba stressed that his side are still looking to improve on their top-four performance at the last Asian Cup in China.

"We don't want to qualify just to make it through from the group. If we qualified and didn't achieve something, then it is better not to qualify from the group. If we want to do something we must qualify and beat the other teams."