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newbie · 16th July 2012, 03:56 PM

'Indonesia a bigger threat than M'sia'

sumber : http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%...14-359174.html

Quote:

By Ali Kasim
The New Paper
Monday, Jul 16, 2012

When the AFF Suzuki Cup groups were drawn on Wednesday, most of the buzz was on the Causeway battle between Singapore and Malaysia in the opening group game on Nov 25.

But Lions coach Raddy Avramovic believes his team's second match against Indonesia, who are also in the same group, is of more concern.

Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia were drawn in Group B, which will be based in Kuala Lumpur. They will be joined by the runners-up of a qualifying campaign involving Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Timor Leste and Brunei.

Speaking to The New Paper Friday, Avramovic seemed pleased with the draw, but warned that Indonesia could be a bigger threat than Malaysia.

He said: "I think they are a team who have really underperformed all these years.

"With the quality players that they've had, it's very surprising they have never won the Suzuki Cup.

"They were unlucky in 2010, and this competition might be the last opportunity for this generation of players to win something.

"They will be hungry to do well this time around."

Four-time runners-up

Singapore are three-time Suzuki Cup winners, while Indonesia have finished runners-up on four occasions (2000, 2002, 2004, 2010).

In their last meeting in the competition, the Lions won 2-0 in Jakarta in 2008.

Avramovic admitted that he's more cautious of Indonesia also because of a lack of information on them.

Malaysia, on the other hand, do not pose the same problem.

The two sides met twice last month in the Causeway Challenge, where the Lions drew 2-2 at home and lost 2-0 in Kuala Lumpur.

"It's good for everyone that Singapore and Malaysia know each other well," said the 62-year-old Serb.