Indonesia bruised, battered but not broken

Indonesia skipper Bambang Pamungkas believes the team still has a fighting chance in the AFF Cup after the Republic were held to a 2-2 draw against Laos in the curtain raiser at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil earlier this evening.

And Bambang, who once donned the Red and Yellow colours of M-League outfit Selangor, stressed he will motivate his teammates to ensure they qualify beyond the group stage.

“I have to be honest, Laos played well. They were organised and made many counter attacks,” explained Bambang.

“We have to fight on. This is my fifth AFF Cup and maybe my last. I may play, I may not play (in the next matches) but I will motivate the other players to soldier on.”

The Indonesians are set to play Singapore (Nov 28) and Malaysia (Dec 1) in the following matches.

Meanwhile, Laos coach Kokichi Kimura blamed it on Lady Luck.

“We were unlucky. Good game, many good chances but no luck,” Kimura said.

“Indonesian players are very good with their individual skills not like Laos players. Laos has a small league while the players are inexperienced but football is not about one player. It is about 11 players.

“But I am happy with my players. They played well but we were just unlucky not to win,” he added.

Kimura admitted that the draw against Indonesia will mean little as their next match against Malaysia will be a different ball game altogether.

“It is not easy. I have seen Malaysia play before. Also, Malaysia has home advantage.

“I will make some changes to my tactics when we play Malaysia next,” he added.