Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Indonesia U23 Can Hold Heads High
Ok so Indonesia returned from the SEA Games with runners up spot. One hex was broken, defeating Malaysia in the semi final, albeit on penalties, but there remains one more elephant in the room. And a bloody big elephant it is.
Defeat to Thailand consigned Indonesia to a second straight final loss in the Under 23 biennial while ensuring the Thais picked up their ninth trophy in the last 11 events and even saw the celebrating players throw FAT Head Worawi Makudi in the air...and not drop him.
The Indonesians, despite the recriminations back here, can hold their head up high. Well, fairly high.
There were patches in the final they played like a football team who had a plan. Players were looking comfortable on the ball, were looking for options and finding them.
It looked like players knew what they were doing and if that sounds a bit Football 101 then sorry but it is not something we see too often.
Good players know what they are going to do with that pesky round thing before they get it. The Indonesians showed elements of this against the Thais. Normally a player gets the ball and does a Cristiano Ronaldo. They go on a mazy run, throw in a few tricks and celebrate in spectacular style. Unfortunately they also lose the ball all too often.
Typically, the Indonesian team has been built around 11 Ronaldo wannabes with no one prepared to do the simple stuff.
The performance against the Thais showed an effort to move away from that nonsense.
Whether it will catch on with the clubs remains to be seen. At the end of the day, Indonesia lost and that is all that will be remembered.
Defeat to Thailand consigned Indonesia to a second straight final loss in the Under 23 biennial while ensuring the Thais picked up their ninth trophy in the last 11 events and even saw the celebrating players throw FAT Head Worawi Makudi in the air...and not drop him.
The Indonesians, despite the recriminations back here, can hold their head up high. Well, fairly high.
There were patches in the final they played like a football team who had a plan. Players were looking comfortable on the ball, were looking for options and finding them.
It looked like players knew what they were doing and if that sounds a bit Football 101 then sorry but it is not something we see too often.
Good players know what they are going to do with that pesky round thing before they get it. The Indonesians showed elements of this against the Thais. Normally a player gets the ball and does a Cristiano Ronaldo. They go on a mazy run, throw in a few tricks and celebrate in spectacular style. Unfortunately they also lose the ball all too often.
Typically, the Indonesian team has been built around 11 Ronaldo wannabes with no one prepared to do the simple stuff.
The performance against the Thais showed an effort to move away from that nonsense.
Whether it will catch on with the clubs remains to be seen. At the end of the day, Indonesia lost and that is all that will be remembered.
# posted by Me @ 7:58 AM 
