Andik + Indonesia score

ANDIK Vermansyah scored one and set up the other to hand Indonesia a 2-0 win over Laos in their Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy (HBT) opener last night.

The midfield starlet, who has drawn interest from Portuguese giants Porto and Benfica, opened the scoring after hardly three minutes but had to wait until the 89th minute to double his team's lead though it was probably undeserved.

With rain pounding the Balapan Track & Field at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex in Berakas, Andik who is his team's only player in the Under-21 tournament with international experience delivered a pass which Laos midfielder Keoviengpheth Lithideth headed into his own goal.

Hasrul Azwar, the Indonesian team manager who had earlier predicted his side to lift the trophy come March 9, felt the win was a taste of things to come.

Widodo Cahyono Putro was more cautious.

"Except for Andik, our players all have no experience on the international stage so it was hard for us mentally," said Indonesia's coach.

Waving their giant Indonesian flags and blaring endlessly on their vuvuzelas, Andik and Co always enjoyed strong support it wouldn't have been too much of a stretch to say that it looked like every Indonesian in the capital was watching the game.

However, such a fanatic fan-base has its fallacies.

"Though the crowd was our 12th player, it also put us under pressure," pointed out Widodo.

Despite being under-dogs, it was the Laotians who had the upper hand in the match and managed to carve out the most chances.

Though they trailed right from the get-go after Andik the team's captain scored from inside the box, they never looked overawed and kept pressing their fancied opponents.

Indonesia did threaten Laos' goal in the first half, but their wayward crosses didn't help their cause.

Laos' better defensive organisation meant they would end the half on the ascendancy after looking ominous in front of goal.

The Laotians kept their opponents penned in for most of the second half, where substitute Khampeng Sayavutthi missed several guilt-edged chances.

In the end, Lithideth's momentarily lapse cost them the game and Bounlap Khenkitisack was left ruing those wasted opportunities.

"Luck just wasn't on our side. If we had equalised we could have gone on to win the game," said the Laos manager, who admitted his team would need to polish their finishing.The Brunei Times