TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia’s national U-23 football team will face Palestine tonight in the 2018 Asian Games Group A qualification round set to be held at the Patriot Candrabhaga stadium, Bekasi.
The match will be aired live in SCTV at 19:00 Western Indonesia Time (WIB) where Indonesia’s Garuda Muda squad eyes to make it through to the top 16 and continue its positive performance after the team played superior by defeating Taiwan 4 – 0 last Sunday.
“The Palestinian team is strong and solid. Their players have a taller physique compared to our Indonesian players. However, we have a few tips to anticipate that,” said Indonesia’s national football team coach Bima Sakti.
One of the strategies that will be presented in the match against Palestine is for the Indonesian players to leniently drive the ball to the opponent’s defensive line.
“We will wait a while in the midfield. We have also asked our players to watch out for fouls within our own defense line,” said Bima.
Furthermore, Bima is well aware of the opponent’s ability and has focused his attention to Palestine’s No.7 player and team captain Mahmoud Abuwarda. The Palestinian team have played two matches and is currently tops the final classification with 4 points.
NURDIN SALEH