Hassanal Bolkiah U21 Trophy I'm gonna post the final result since none of the tournament's results was mentioned here, just to let you know that there are things going on in the world of football in other parts of Asia. The tournament was for U21 teams only, and all ten southeast Asian nations sent their first youth teams. Hosts Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia were placed in Group A, while Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, and the Philippines were placed in Group B. FINAL Indonesia 2 vs 0 Thailand Scorers: Johan Prasetyo (21'), Rahel Tuasalamony (74') En route to the Final, Indonesia beat the Philippines 10-0, Vietnam 1-0, Singapore 2-0, Thailand 1-0, and Malaysia 1-0 in the semifinal. En route to the Final, Thailand beat Singapore 3-0, Vietnam 1-0, the Philippines 5-0, lost to Indonesia 0-1, and then beat Myanmar 4-3 in penalty kicks, after 2-2 draw during regulation time. Tournament's MVP: Indonesia's goalkeeper Syamsidar, for keeping a clean sheet in 6 matches and some spectacular saves.
Indonesia? That's unexpected. When people think of future of South Asian soccer, they think of Thailand. But Indonesia beat them twice.
I think its played in Indonesia if I am not wrong. From what I hear from my Indo friends, the crowds there are very intimidating and very passionate. Clubs like PSM Makasaar [hope I got that right] are known to pack in the crowds every week and from what we've seen in recent Tiger Cups and even Asian Cup, Indonesia are on their way up.
Indonesian youth teams are currently faring quite well in the region, actually. Its U17 team beat their Thailand counterparts earlier this year in the ASEAN U17 Cup, only to lose to Myanmar in the semifinal. There were formal complaints from the Singaporean and Indonesian FA's regarding the age of Myanmar's players, but I won't go into that. Its U21 team held their Thailand counterparts in the qualifying round for the Asian U21 Cup earlier this year, only to miss out on goal difference. The games were all played in Thailand and the Thai team made it to the final round. And they finaly got their revenge last week. The tournament is played in Brunel Darussalam, btw. To find pictures of the Philippines national team, you might wanna try www.aseanfootball.com