JAKARTA - Tonight, the eyes of Indonesian football fans are on the 2019 SEA Games final between the Indonesian U-22 national team against Vietnam. This match will be broadcast by RCTI starting at 19.00 WIB.
For Indonesia, the match which will be held at the Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila, Philippines is not only a great opportunity to win a gold medal, but also improves the image as well as the bad achievements of Indonesian football lately.
Indonesia's senior national team almost collapsed in all competitions. Most recently, they suffered a losing streak in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers which led to the sacking of coach Simon McMenemy. While at the league level, it is still hot how Indonesian football has been tarnished by the case of scoring which resulted in the arrest of several high-ranking PSSI officials by the Anti Mafia Soccer Task Force from the National Police.
However, Indonesia's steps to win gold are unlikely to be easy. Judging from the last few meetings of the two countries. Fire Dragon Warriors - Vietnam's nickname - recorded a 2-1 victory over Garuda Muda in the Group B phase.
In addition, in the senior arena, Vietnam also won a 3-1 victory over Indonesia at the Kapten I Wayan Dipta Stadium, Gianyar, Bali in the 2022 World Cup Qualification round, 15 October. This does not include the U-23 Vietnam 1-0 national team victory during the 2020 U-23 Asian Cup Qualification on March 23, 2019.
On the other hand, Garuda Muda trainer Indra Sjafri was carefree. The coach who once brought Garuda Muda to win the 2013 AFF U-19 and 2019 AFF U-22 Cups admitted that his foster children were not affected by the magnitude of the country's public spotlight on his squad or the record of the meetings between the two countries. However, he hopes for the support of prayers from the Indonesian people so that his team can win the gold medal.
"The important thing is good intentions, hard work and prayers. We have to fight because there are only two choices, namely we win or them," said Indra Sjafri after the last training session of Garuda Muda, Monday.
Apart from the match between Indonesia U-22 and Vietnam in Manila, there was also the last matchday of the European Champions League which was broadcast on Wednesday, December 11, in the early hours of Indonesia time. Some of them are parties of life and death to qualify for the knockout phase.
The clash between defending champions Liverpool and Red Bull Salzburg will be broadcast on SCTV and Champions TV1 at 00.55, while the big match between Inter Milan versus Barcelona will be broadcast on SCTV at 03.00.
Other matches broadcast live include Napoli vs Genk at 00:55 (Champions TV 2), Ajax vs Valencia at 03:00 (Champions TV 1), and Chelsea vs Lille at 03:00 (Champions TV 2).
Football seems to never stop being played. The ball continues to roll all over the world tirelessly. For those of us who live in Asian countries, enjoying European football does require a hard struggle. Because when the kick off whistle sounds, 'sleep' is just a word of beauty.
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