Monday, July 31, 2006
The Final - Semarang v Kediri
To be honest it was disappointing. Semarang fell to type, pumping a succession of long balls forward hoping de Porras would get on the end of one but the only thing the small Argie forward connected with was a headbutt from his fellow Argentinian, Gonzalez, soon after the Kediri forward had given the East Java team the lead in the second period of extra time. Gonzalez, a la Zidane, walked but there was no reprieve for the Blues, they lacked anything up front to really trouble the Kediri defence.
Things were pretty even fopr the first hour or so but as the game went on Kediri got more and more chances and you always get the feeling with Gonzalez that one will hit the net. Semarang relied too much on Ortiz looking to release his compatriot and it says a lot for their chances that the best fell to Salisbury, their free kick specialist, who went close with a diving header.
Far be it for me to gloat but I did predict a way back that Kediri were likely contenders for the title. They play as a team, are disciplined and attack well, Budi in full flow is like a local Ryan Giggs (!), Haryianto looks better each time I see him and Christian Gonzalez, well, apart from the headbutt, which was on target, he is the prefect import!
Semarang have some useful players, IKP the keeper, Salisbury but their reliance on the Ortiz - de Porras combination has I feel proved their downfall.
Laters
Things were pretty even fopr the first hour or so but as the game went on Kediri got more and more chances and you always get the feeling with Gonzalez that one will hit the net. Semarang relied too much on Ortiz looking to release his compatriot and it says a lot for their chances that the best fell to Salisbury, their free kick specialist, who went close with a diving header.
Far be it for me to gloat but I did predict a way back that Kediri were likely contenders for the title. They play as a team, are disciplined and attack well, Budi in full flow is like a local Ryan Giggs (!), Haryianto looks better each time I see him and Christian Gonzalez, well, apart from the headbutt, which was on target, he is the prefect import!
Semarang have some useful players, IKP the keeper, Salisbury but their reliance on the Ortiz - de Porras combination has I feel proved their downfall.
Laters
# posted by Me @ 3:59 PM 
