Against Indonesia, Timor Leste Coach Promises To Make A Surprise

Ahead of the Indonesia vs Timor Leste match (Photo: PSSI)

JAKARTA - The FIFA Matchday agenda will bring together the Indonesian national team against Timor Leste on Thursday, January 27. In this test match, Timor Leste promised to surprise the Garuda squad.

This was conveyed by the coach of Timor Leste, Fabio Maciel. He confidently expressed his optimism to face the Indonesian national team despite the poor results in the AFF Cup recently.

When appearing in the AFF Cup, Timor Leste was recorded to have always lost in four matches and did not score and conceded 14 times.

Not only that, Fabio Maciel also said that his experience of meeting Shin Tae-yong seven years ago in the U-23 match was also a measure of strength ahead of Indonesia vs Timor Leste meeting.

"I know that Indonesia is now being handled by a South Korean coach. We have faced it in 2015. I see that Indonesia is not too dominant in ball possession," Maciel said at a press conference.

"We have to respect the team, the players, especially this big country. but we are in a good moment. I believe in that. We will make a surprise, of course, we don't talk about the result of the game," he continued.

Furthermore, Maciel also assessed that the current strength of Indonesia and Timor Leste both rests on young players. Maciel also considers the views of people who think that the Garuda Squad is better than his team will not make the match automatically end before it starts.

"People say the Indonesian team is better than Timor Leste, no football is not so. This is the beauty of football. It will be a good match, not only for Timor Leste but also for Indonesia. It will be a duel of two different generations of Indonesia and Timor Leste," said Maciel.

Despite the comments and promises made by Fabio Maciel, the match between Indonesia and Timor Leste, which is on the FIFA Matchday agenda, will take place on January 27 at I Wayan Dipta Stadium, Bali starting at 19.00 p.m. Indonesian Western Time (WIB).