Indonesia wins SEA Games after chaotic final
*Goal: Anan 65', Yotsakon 90'+9' - Songchai owns 21', Sananta 45'+5, Irfan Jauhari 91', Fajar 107', Beckham 120'.
Before the final match on the Olympic Stadium, the last time Indonesia won a gold medal in men's football at the SEA Games took place in 1991, when the Games still allowed member countries to send national teams to compete.
The development of the first half of the match gave the impression that Indonesia would easily win against Thailand. Coach Indra Sjafri's students entered the game with a football rich in power, speed and intensity. They ramped up the tempo and put pressure all over the court, making the opponent almost paralysed. Indonesia is the only team to win all of the SEA Games this time. Their current group of players is of a special type, because they are invested heavily to attend the U20 World Cup, which was originally scheduled to be held in Indonesia.
After 21 minutes of play, Indonesia concretized its advantage into the opening goal. Like the win over Vietnam in the semi-finals, this goal came from a throw-in on the right that sent the ball into the penalty area. The striker Senanta ran towards the near post to head, and the ball hit Thai defender Songchai Thongcham into the net.
Thailand coach Issara Sritaro quickly adjusted, by withdrawing the two weakest links, striker Achitpol and right-back Bukkoree, to replace them with Anan and Pongsakorn. Thailand played more sharp at the end of the first half. But in the fifth minute of compensation, from a glimpse of the blue defense, Sananta took the opportunity to kick the ball over the head of goalkeeper Soponwit, doubling the gap for Indonesia.
Efforts after the break helped Thailand regain the game, shortening the score to 1-2 in the 65th minute thanks to Anan's header in the corner kick. But after that, the match became tense with many collision situations and the level of fierceness gradually increased.
In the seventh and last minute of the second half, when the referee cut the whistle for Thailand to enjoy a free kick, the Indonesian coaching staff mistakenly thought the game was over, so they rushed to the field to celebrate the victory. It was from this free kick that Thailand equalized 2-2 thanks to the classy handling of 17-year-old striker Yotsakorn, bringing the match into extra time.
Many members of the Thai team celebrated the equalizer by provoking the Indonesian side, leading to a scuffle between the two teams on the sidelines. Security intervened, restoring order before the referee issued two red cards to a member of the Thai coaching staff and an Indonesian substitute.
But it seems that the excessive excitement caused the Thai defense to lose focus, and then conceded a goal in the first minute of extra time. From Songchai's loss of the ball, new striker Irfan Jauhari escaped to hit the ball over goalkeeper Soponwit, raising the score to 3-2 for Indonesia.
This time, it was Indonesia's turn to provoke, leading to a replay of the scuffle, forcing security a second time to intervene. The referee also had to draw two red cards to directly chase Indonesian defender Komang and Thai goalkeeper Soponwit. In addition, he also issued three more red cards to punish members of the coaching staff of the two teams.
The long, stressful match both psychologically and physically seemed to exhaust the Thai side, while Indonesia maintained high intensity and speed. This difference was shown in the 101st minute, when Thai defender Jonathan Khemdee was exhausted and only rushed into a foul to stop an Indonesian player. He received a second yellow card into an indirect red card, leaving Thailand with only nine men on the field.
Indonesia made it easier to kick, raising the score to 4-2 in 107 minutes. The Thai defense was almost helpless to see the opponent comfortably coordinate for Fajar to twist and shoot from the edge of the penalty area to defeat the reserve goalkeeper Thirawoot. Breaking the match after this goal, Thailand lost another player when striker Teerasak because of an indirect red card in the 118th minute.
Ready to be excited and play more than two people in the remaining two minutes, Indonesia scored the fifth goal, thanks to the substitute Beckham Putra, sealing a 5-2 victory.
This result helps Indonesia to win the SEA Games men's gold medal for the third time, after 1991 and 1987. But this is the first time they have had this honor since 2001, when the countries in the region unified only send U23 and U22 to attend the Congress. Thailand has not been able to raise the record of 16 times winning the SEA Games men's football gold medal.
