Indonesia Wins AFF U-22 Championship

Indonesian football team won the 2019 AFF U-22 Tournament after beating Thailand 2-1 at the Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday (26/2). Photo by: PR of Ministry of Youth and Sports.

Indonesian football team won the 2019 AFF U-22 Tournament after beating Thailand 2-1 in the final held at the Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday (26/2).

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo congratulated the team. “I would like to offer my congratulation to the Indonesian U-22 football team,” the President tweeted in his Twitter account @jokowi.

The final match was tough, with the two teams attacking each other since the first minutes of the game. In the first half, both teams did not score any goal despite having several shots on target. In the second half, Thailand took lead in the 57^th minute the after the captain Saringkan Promsupa scoring the goal through his header.

Indonesia scored its first goal in the 58^th minute after Sani Rizki’s shot from outside the penalty box hit the Thailand’s defender and made the ball cross the goal line. In the 63^rd minute, the Young Garuda squad finally took the lead after Osvaldo Haay scored the second goal for the team.

In the meantime, Minister of Youth and Sports Imam Nahrawi, who watched the final match in Cambodia, said that the Government will provide cash bonuses to the athletes and will organize a victory parade at home.

“(We will organize) a victory parade and provide bonus. I think the bonus will be Rp 2.1 billion,” Imam said.

For the record, during group stage of the competition Indonesia was held to a 1-1 draw by Myanmar and 2-2 with Malaysia, before defeating Cambodia 2-0 and secured a ticket to the semifinals with a runner-up status of Group B. In the knockout stage of the tournament, Indonesia faced Vietnam, the winner of Group A.

Translated by: Ridwan Ibadurrohman
Edited by: Mia Medyana