Day after 1-0 loss to Indonesia: Pinoys take it easy, go out shopping

JAKARTA – Head coach Simon McMenemy is not pushing the panic button.

In fact, the British national who has helped turn the Philippine football team into serious contenders, let his wards loose yesterday, the day after their close 1-0 defeat to Indonesia.

They all went out for lunch at the Philippine Embassy, and from there, after enjoying a very warm welcome from the embassy staff, they dropped by at a nearby mall for some shopping.

Everybody seemed to be in a good mood, with a lot of bantering and singing inside the team bus that took them around town.

It was a total rest day for the Filipino booters, who came close to forcing Indonesia to a draw at least. To some extent, there even came expectations during the match they could have won.

One of the players, though, was not too cool on spending the day off.

“After we got our butts kicked, we’re going out shopping?” he said.

All’s not lost on the Filipinos, however, because they still have another chance in tomorrow’s game, same time, same place, but will have to beat the Indons by two goals to advance to the finals of the AFF Suzuki Cup.

Malaysia goes for the finals against Vietnam today, with the Vietnamese, the defending champions, needing to win by three goals to get to the finals.

McMenemy gave no reason why he didn’t order any workout for the team. But over breakfast at the Sulo Hotel, where the Philippine and Indonesian teams are booked, he shared some of his thoughts.

“I think we did everything we could last night taking into account what the boys were up against,” he said.

The Filipinos went up against an Indonesian team that had no right to lose, and faced a rabid and unruly crowd of 70,000 at the Bung Karno Stadium here.

Before the start of the match, McMenemy, inside the dressing room, warned his players about letting the crowd get into their game.

“They are here to watch. That’s all. So, don’t watch them. Because if you do, then you allow them to be part of the game. Let’s go out there and win this one, go home and be happy,” he said.

The Filipinos did go out and play their best, against the deafening cheers of the crowd, blowing horns and lighting fireworks, but fell short of a goal that could have equalized or won the match for them.

Organizers have issued a warning to the fans bringing the fireworks inside the stadium. When the Indons scored the long goal, there were fireworks everywhere, a few wayward ones getting too close to the pitch.

Security should be tighter for Sunday’s match, considering that 3,000 police officers were in and out of the stadium last Thursday. A line of APCs (armored personnel carriers) was seen on one side of the stadium.

Among those who watched was the Indonesian president, and he hoped that their players could score more goals the next time. The game story landed on page one of the Jakarta Post.

It was so difficult for the players to hear each other on the field, and the hearing radius was one meter.

“None of us have been in front of 80,000 people before. It’s like going through a cauldron that place was,” said McMenemy.

“We were sitting on the bench, beside each other, and we couldn’t hear each other talk. We had to lean on and shout to each other’s ears. So to think about how that feels on the pitch the players couldn’t hear each other,” he added.

Rob Gier tried hard to organize the team inside the field because they couldn’t hear each other, and had to rely on hand signals or through eye contact.

“We’ve never experienced anything like that before. And unfortunately I think that’s where the goal came from,” said the coach.

It came in the 34th minute of the match, just when it looked like it was headed for a scoreless first half, when Neil Etheridge, the Filipino goalie playing out of Fulham, met Cristian Gonzales out of the box.

The striker from Indonesia flicked a header in front of defenders Aly Borromeo and Ray Jonnson, and Etheridge coming in to help. The Filipinos can only look as the ball went in unopposed.

“There was miscommunication because they couldn’t hear each other. They all got mixed up and unfortunately Neil makes that one mistake in four games and gets punished for it,” said McMenemy.

“It’s a shame for him because he’s been absolutely superb the last four games and his handling is incredible. But you must not forget he’s only 20. I still think we did very well last night,” he added.

The team manager, Dan Palami, said all’s not lost on the Filipinos.

He reminded everyone that in a 1-1 draw against Singapore during the group stage, the equalizer, courtesy of Chris Greatwich, came in the 94th minute.

“One of the best things about this team is that it has a never-say-die attitude and I’m sure this will be evident in our final game against Indonesia on Sunday,” he said.

“Against Singapore we scored and tied them in the 94th minute. Now we are being given 90 minutes or more, not just to tie but to win. We can still come out with something,” Palami said.

McMenemy agrees.

“They (Indonesians) tried to pull us apart and it didnt’ work. It gives us the confidence going to Sunday,” he said.

Everybody’s looking forward to that Sunday showdown.