The "Devil's Home Field" is back in full swing! Indonesia takes revenge on Bahrain to lead the battle for fourth place

The reporter reported coldly On the evening of March 25, the 77,000-capacity Soekarno Stadium in Jakarta was packed, and Indonesian fans displayed a huge banner covering two floors of grandstand in the north stand, featuring a golden Garuda bird standing in the clouds, symbolizing the Indonesian team. Under the pattern, it reads "Show Your Majesty" in English, and the atmosphere at home is astounding. With the support of the fans, Indonesia, who suffered a heavy defeat in the last round, defeated Bahrain 1-0 and occupied a favorable position in the battle for the top four in the group.

In November last year, Indonesia played Saudi Arabia at home, with only 55,000 people in attendance after the team had just suffered a 4-0 defeat to Japan. But before this six-point game, although the team also suffered a 1-5 defeat, the number of Indonesian fans who returned to their home stadium exceeded 70,000, and the performance of the Indonesian team did not disappoint the fans. It is worth mentioning that in the round of 18, the Indonesian team scored 9 points in 8 games, of which 4 home games accounted for 7 points, and the "devil's home field" lived up to its name.

In fact, before this revenge game, Indonesia almost lost some of their home advantage - last year, Bahrain drew Indonesia with nine minutes of stoppage time at home, after the assistant referee showed six minutes of stoppage time, which caused a huge controversy. Some extreme Indonesian fans insulted the Bahraini players on social media and even issued death threats. The Bahrain Football Association then applied to the AFC for the match to be held in a neutral place, but the match continued at the Soekarno Stadium after the Indonesian Football Federation made a safety commitment.

Although the main central defender Shirges was injured, the other main central defender Habna and striker Olamangunn returned from the ban, and the strength of the Indonesian team did not decrease but increased. After the heavy defeat to Australia, Kluivert made changes to the starting line-up. In addition to the release of Habner, the main local central defender of the Shentai Dragon era Ridor returned to the starting lineup, Ferdonk and Dix, who are better on the wings, separated on the wings, and the partner of the midfielder Haye is Perupesi, who was naturalized in March, and Olamangunn is on the left in attack, and local winger Ferdinand starts on the right, working with Oxford United's club team-mate center forward Romeny.

Bahrain lost 2-0 away to Japan in the last round, and at the same time, the main central defender Bernardi was suspended, and the main right-back Shamsan was injured. Coach Taladzic had to replace Bernardi with rotating centre-back Bakr and right-back Bugamar for Shamsan.

After the opening, although the Bahrain team and the Indonesian team formed an equality, but the two wing defenses obviously could not keep up with the Indonesian team's side breakthrough, first Olamangunn made a free kick on the left side, Haye took the penalty of extremely high quality, and the Bahrain goalkeeper Lute Farah did his best to pull the ball out of the bottom line.

In the 24th minute, Kluivert's "bet" on the Oxford United combination worked. Haye counter-attacked with a long pass from midfield, Ferdinand used his speed to pull the side and cross diagonally into the middle, and the unmarked Romemeni scored the only goal of the game and his second after naturalization. It is worth mentioning that it was Ferdinand who scored the first goal against Saudi Arabia in November last year, but he accumulated yellow cards and missed the game against the national football team; In October last year, Indonesia scored a goal away from Bahrain, and the assist was Haye. This time, the two also contributed to the goal.

In the 59th minute, Kluivert replaced Haye with Jenna, and the Bahrain team gradually changed three people in a row after the offensive gradually prevailed, maintaining the physical fitness of the offensive end and increasing the number of defenders. Although Rio Ferdinand and substitute Reinders Jr. wasted back-to-back goals to seal the victory, Bahrain were unlucky in a first-leg stoppage time draw this time.

In the end, Indonesia defeated Bahrain 1-0 to get the crucial three points, and at the same time grasped the initiative in the competition for the top four - in June, the Indonesian team with 9 points played at home against the national football team with 6 points, and the final round away to Japan who had already qualified; Bahrain, which has 6 points with the national football team and 2 less goal difference than Indonesia, will play Saudi Arabia with 10 points in the next round, and the last round will be away to the national football team. Although the final match against Japan is very difficult, if the Indonesian team can beat the national football team, it will also have a high probability of securing a play-off place. Bahrain, who qualified from the Asian play-offs twice in 2006 and 2010 and represented Asia in the continental play-offs, not only needs to get points from the Saudi team, but also hopes that the national football team will lose to themselves while stopping Indonesia.