Indonesia Failed To Win Against Laos, Shin Tae-yong Highlighted The 2024 AFF Cup Schedule

Indonesia was only able to draw 3-3 against Laos in the 2024 AFF Cup match. (Gonang Susatyo)

SOLO - Indonesia came close to falling before a 3-3 draw against Laos' weak team in the 2024 AFF Cup Group B match. Failed to win the duel at Manahan Stadium, Solo, Thursday, December 12, 2024 evening WIB, coach Shin Tae-yong instead highlighted the busy schedule of the tournament.

Fatigue has immediately been felt by national team players. After winning 1-0 against Myanmar, Pratama Arhan et al only had a short recovery time and had only one day of training before facing Laos.

The brief preparation made the performance of the Red and White team not optimal. Coach Shin said the players had to travel for 16 hours even though only between Southeast Asian countries. The reason is, they have to transit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, before flying to Jakarta and then continue their journey to Solo.

"We had to travel for 16 hours because we transited first in Kuala Lumpur. We really had a game with a busy schedule," said Shin.

Shin not only highlighted the busy schedule of the AFF Cup. The South Korean coach also asked the AFF to review the tournament schedule, which Indonesia has never won in its history.

According to him, the match with a busy schedule makes players vulnerable to injury. Players also can't show their best performance because they experience fatigue during the tournament.

"The team undergoes matches every three days. Ideally, the distance from matches is four days. This is to prevent players from getting injured. In addition, if the schedule is tight, players are tired so they cannot show their best performance," said Shin.

"This needs to be considered by the AFF in compiling the match schedule. After fighting Laos, we have to prepare ourselves for Vietnam. I don't think about what the performance of the players will be but how to prevent them from getting injured," he said again.

In the match against Laos, which appeared with a high fighting spirit, Shin Tae-yong's team really experienced difficulties. Even during the first 15 minutes, Indonesia was completely under Laos pressure which looked surprising.

The match has only been running for 10 minutes, the Indonesian goal has conceded through Piousomboon Panyavong's goal. The Red and White team did get up quickly because only three minutes later, they could equalize the score after Kadek Arel scored a goal.

However, again the negligence of Indonesian defenders makes Laos back ahead. Laos only needed one minute to change the score to 2-1 through Phathana Phommathep's goal. Indonesia again equalized the score through captain Muhammad Ferrari.

In a draw position, the national team even lost Marselino Ferdinand who got a second yellow card and was followed by a red card after committing a serious foul on Laos players in the 69th minute. Despite playing with 10 people, Indonesia managed to excel after Ferrari scored a brace.

Unfortunately the 3-2 advantage cannot be maintained. Indonesia's defense was so easily caught off guard and was again broken by Peeter Phanthavong. Laos did not take long to catch up and end the match with a score of 3-3.

"We admit that we were wrong for failing to win. We apologize to Indonesian fans for this result," said Shin.

Even though they were only able to draw, Indonesia managed to win the top position of the standings by pocketing points four. Meanwhile, Vietnam, which has only competed once, is ranked second.