Annoyed In The Cambodian Pascalaga Versus Change Room, Egy Maulana Vikri: There Are Many Opportunities For Sia

Egy Maulana Vikri (Photo: Antara)

Indonesian national team winger Egy Maulana Vikri said he and his squad had been annoyed in the dressing room because they judged their performance was not optimal when they defeated Cambodia 2-1 in the 2022 AFF Cup Group A match, Friday.

"Actually, we are happy because we won. However, the first match was always difficult and many opportunities were wasted. It was an evaluation for players to be better than before," said Egy at a press conference after the match against Cambodia at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium (SUGBK), Jakarta, citing Antara.

According to the 22-year-old footballer, one of the golden opportunities to score a goal flew because he failed to get past Cambodian goalkeeper Keo Soksela.

This situation occurred in the first half. Egy, who received the through ball, tried to trick Keo with a little trick.

However, the player who just ended his collaboration with Slovak club FC Vion Zlate Moravce-Vrable instead accidentally lifted the ball over his head so that the goal didn't happen.

"Initially I wanted to do a touch. However, I saw the goalkeeper move to the right and try to pass it. It was a shame the ball didn't score," said Egy.

However, Egy was still able to contribute one goal for Indonesia and another goal was created by Witan Sulaeman. Meanwhile Cambodia reduced the position through Saret Krya.

Official AFF statistics noted that Indonesia, which controls 54.6 percent of the games from Cambodia, fired eight shots on target and eight attempts off the mark.

That's far more than Cambodia which only gave up a total of three attempts, two of which led to targets while others did not meet targets.

Then, Indonesia has two golden opportunities one on one with goalkeepers. However, Egy Maulana and Witan Sulaeman were unable to complete the opportunity with goals.

Victory over Cambodia makes Indonesia occupy third place in the 2022 AFF Cup Group A standings with three points from one match and a goal difference of +1.

Thailand is still firmly at the top of the standings with three points (from one match) but has a goal difference of +5. The Philippines is below it with three points (from two matches) and a goal difference of +3.

Cambodia is in fourth place with three points from two matches (goal difference 0). Brunei Darussalam is the bottom team in Group A because he has always lost two matches.

Next, Indonesia will travel to Brunei Darussalam headquarters, Monday (26/12), at Kuala Lumpur Stadium, Malaysia, starting at 17.00 WIB.