AFF Cup Final Leg 2, Indonesia Vs Thailand, Garuda Must Win

JAKARTA - There is no choice if you want to bring home the AFF trophy, the Garuda team must actually fight Thailand, which has won a landslide victory in the first leg with a score of 4:0. The Indonesian team must win by more goal difference than Thailand scored in the first leg, at least five goals.

"Attack is the secret of defense. Defense itself is planning to attack," said Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu.

Stuffing thoughts about attacking and attacking, without forgetting defense, of course, must be done by the Indonesian national team against Thailand in the second leg of the 2020 AFF Cup final against Thailand, Saturday 1 January, at the National Stadium, Singapore, starting at 19.30 WIB.

Goal after goal must be produced because in the first leg, Wednesday, December 29, the Garuda squad was defeated by a landslide score of 0-4. To surpass the opponent and become the champion of the tournament, Indonesia must score at least five goals. Or, at the very least, leveling the aggregate and forcing the game to go into extra time and, if necessary, a penalty shoot-out.

The struggle to get there is undeniably tough. The Thai national team contains experienced players, while the majority of Indonesian personnel are still "green" and are debutants in the AFF Cup.

However, there is always an opportunity to make a surprise. In the history of the AFF Cup, there has never been a team that has caught up after being defeated by a four-goal difference in the first leg.

However, in the world football scene, there was a situation where Spanish club Barcelona was able to get rid of French team Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) from the 2016-2017 UEFA Champions League despite losing 0-4 in the first leg. Barcelona at that time amazingly won 6-1 in the second leg to qualify for the quarter-finals.

This means that, as long as you focus and cultivate as thick a belief as possible, the Indonesian national team always has the potential to win the 2020 AFF Cup which, if realized, will be the first AFF Cup trophy for the "Garuda" squad in history. This was reported by Antara.

Keep in mind, until the first leg of the final, Indonesia was the most fertile team in the 2020 AFF Cup by scoring 18 goals. Thailand is just below with a collection of two goals less.

Evan Dimas and his friends were able to score 18 goals from 38 shots on target, while Thailand got their goals from 48 shots on target. This means that Indonesia is actually more effective in maximizing the experiment.

In order to increase the intensity of the attack on the Thai stronghold, the Indonesian national team coach Shin Tae-yong needs to consider the option of fielding more creative players from the first minute.

Here, creative figures like Evan Dimas are in the spotlight. Evan, who has never entered the first eleven again since Indonesia beat Laos 5-1 in the group stage, December 12, 2021, should be able to get the main place again.

Later, Evan can work with attacking midfielders, be it Ricky Kambuaya or Egy Maulana. Their performance was assisted by Irfan Jaya and Witan Sulaeman on the flanks and a center forward who deserved to be filled by Ezra Walian.

Ezra did appear stiff on several occasions during the match, but his ability to find space and hold the ball deserves appreciation. After all, Ezra is Indonesia's sharpest center forward in the 2020 AFF Cup with two goals.

For the defense sector, Shin Tae-yong seems to have been able to play a 1.94-meter-tall centre-back, Elkan Baggott from the first minute. In the 2020 AFF Cup, Elkan always sits on the bench and only entered in the second half of the match.

As a central defender, Baggott can partner with Alfeandra Dewangga, accompanied by Pratama Arhan and Asnawi Mangkualam Bahar on the left and right. The five-defence scheme must be abandoned if Indonesia wants to score many goals against Thailand.

In front of the defenders, defensive midfielder Rachmat "Rian" Irianto must be maintained. Rian's expertise in cutting the opponent's attack is difficult to replace in the "Garuda" squad. Then under the crossbar, Nadeo Argawinata has the opportunity to be defended.

Seeing from the first leg meeting, Thailand implemented a pressing strategy and made the Indonesian players panic so they lost the ball.

This is what makes Shin Tae-yong feel obliged to remind his players to appear calm and focus on the second leg. Because, no matter how cornered in the field, there is always a way out that can be sought.

One way to escape the Thai siege is to send accurate passes quickly. In this matter, Indonesia must continue to improve its quality because in the 2020 AFF Cup, Indonesia is in the eighth rank or the bottom three in terms of passing accuracy.

Indonesia's average bait accuracy is 78 percent, far from Thailand in the first position, which is 84 percent. Indonesia's precision pass rating is only better than Singapore and Laos.

Indonesia also needs to be aware of the individual techniques of Thai players such as the name of the squad's mainstay "War Elephant", Chanathip Songkrasin.

Aged 28, Chanathip has been an important part of the Thailand squad since the 2014 AFF Cup, where they won. The attacking midfielder for J1 League club Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo also helped Thailand win the 2016 AFF Cup.

In the 2020 AFF Cup, Chanathip is temporarily the top scorer with four goals, along with compatriot Teerasil Dangda, as well as Bienvienido Maranon (Philippines) and Safawi Rasid (Malaysia).

Teerasil Dangda also deserves attention because he has experience and good kicking ability.

Without attacking, Indonesia will feel the barrenness of a goalless match. However, if you are too engrossed in directing the ball to the opponent's defense, Thailand, who does not want to be humiliated after winning 4-0, can present a nightmare for "Garuda".

Anticipating that, Indonesia's transition from defense to attack and vice versa is ideally disciplined and implemented with full concentration.

The second leg will actually be tough for Indonesia, which is four goals behind. However, nothing is impossible in football.

Josef "Sepp" Herberger, the coach who led the German national team to win the 1954 World Cup, once uttered a sentence that until now was almost always repeated with the aim of increasing the fighting spirit of players. This is how he said, "The ball is round. The game lasts 90 minutes, everything else is just theory".