Champions!!!

JAKARTA: Defending champions Malaysia retained the coveted SEA Games football gold when they defeated hosts Indonesia 4-3 on penalty kicks in a blood-and-guts clash at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium in Senayan last night.

It was their first ever back-to-back success in the history of the Games and also took Malaysia’s gold tally to a respectable 59 – 14 more than projected. It also denied Indonesia the gold that they wanted most to cap their domination of these Games.

Malaysia’s heroes were goalkeeper Khairul Fahmi Che Mat and skipper Baddrol Bakhtiar. Khairul for stopping Indonesia’s last kick by Ferdinan Sinaga and Baddrol for tucking away the winner in the shootout.

The gutsy Malaysians had fought back from an early goal down to equalise and looked good for a win in regulation time. But poor finishing saw the tie forced into extra-time which also failed to produce a winner.

In the ensuing shootout, Gunawan, who scored the opening goal for Indonesia, turned villain when he missed his spot kick to give Malaysia the advantage before Ahmad Fakri Saarani blew his attempt to make it 2-2. Khairul then did his magic and Baddrol made sure the gold went to Malaysia.

It was heartbreak for the 100,000 raucous fans who could not accept defeat and threw water bottles into the stands.

For Indonesia, it was a second major blow in a year, having lost to Malaysia in the Suzuki Cup Asean Football Federation (AFF) Championships (4-2 on aggregate) here 11 months ago.

Malaysia should have sealed the match in 90 minutes. They had more chances compared to Indonesia, who only looked dangerous on the break.

Coach Ong Kim Swee had to start without three key players who were on the crock list - forwards Syahrul Azwari Ibrahim, Izzaq Faris Ramlan and midfielder Wan Zaharulnisam Wan Zakaria.

All three were key hands who had scored crucial goals in Malaysia’s campaign – Syahrul in the 1-0 win over Indonesia earlier and Izzaq who scored the winning goal in the 2-1 decision against Thailand.

Yet, the Malaysians showed character to take on the Indonesians and silence the ‘Senayan Roar’ with their gutsy display in a pulsating match.

The home fans did their part cheering their team on and singing patriotic songs to raise their game. But it was Malaysia who were on the offensive and kept the fans on edge throughout.