The Indonesia national football team have as many as six naturalised players in Otavio Dutra (36-year-old Brazilian), Victor Igbonefo (33-year-old Nigerian), Stefano Lilipaly (29-year-old Dutchman), Greg Nwokolo (33-year-old Nigerian), Beto Goncalves (38-yearold Brazilian) and Osas Saha (32-year-old Nigerian).
They will host a fierce neighbour, Malaysia on September 5 on the way to the long qualifying road to the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
Malaysia have brought in only one naturalised player in Gambian-born Mohamadou Sumareh.
“If we look at the history of the matches between Indonesia and Malaysia, I think the results are quite balanced. There’s no advantage to either team. We can see now Indonesia are more serious with their preparations especially given that they have added five to six naturalised player s,” Malaysia coach Cheng Hoe said.
“So if we are to judge, Indonesia are definitely in a better shape and quality than what we have seen previously.”
Indonesian fans will be baying for first blood in this first match of Group G. They want the Garuda to sink their beak into Malaysia early on.
National coach Tan Cheng Hoe is well aware what is in store for his men in Jakarta, having been part of the team that faced Indonesia in a nervy AFF Cup match back in 2010.
An assistant to K. Rajagopal then, Chen Hoe, players and officials had to take armoured trucks to the stadium for the AFF Cup final for security reasons due to hostile fans.
Though this time it’s not the final but the opening Group G match, Cheng Hoe is still concerned about the impact of Indonesia’s fanatical home fans.
“In any competition, the first game is always very important because it helps to motivate the team and increase their confidence level,” said Cheng Hoe.
“And this first game has an added importance. We will be going to Indonesia and playing at Bung Karno Stadium. That’s not going to be easy.
“So, it is vital for the players to absorb the pressure at the stadium and keep focused on the match. They cannot be emotional when playing against Indonesia.”
