Suzuki Cup: Down 4-0 from 1st leg, defiant Indonesia hoping for a New Year miracle

SINGAPORE - Despite having a mountain in the form of a 4-0 deficit to overcome, Indonesia coach Shin Tae-yong insisted his team will beat Thailand in the second leg of the Suzuki Cup finals at the National Stadium on Saturday (Jan 1).

In search for a record-extending sixth Asean Football Federation Championships, Thailand produced a devastating first leg display on Wednesday to thump a hapless Garuda, who are likely to conclude their campaign with the unwanted distinction of a sixth runners-up finish.

But in the pre-match press conference on Friday, Shin said: "I strongly believe we will win the match tomorrow.

"In the first leg, our boys were nervous but that's understandable because they had no experience of playing in such a big match. Tomorrow's match will also be a tough one, but we are going for the win tomorrow and I keep my faith in our boys.

"We must score many goals to turn things around, but we won't forget to play our own match calmly."

However, the 51-year-old former South Korea coach refused to commit on whether he will go for broke and field an all-out attacking line-up, after surprisingly benching forwards Ezra Walian and Egy Maulana in the first leg.

Indonesia have done well to reach their sixth final, considering they were able to call up limited players from each local club as the domestic leagues are ongoing. Their 30-man squad have an average age of 23.8 and only two players have more than 20 caps.

One of them is 26-year-old skipper Evan Dimas, who has 41 caps and nine goals. He said: "The boys were very sad with the defeat from the first leg, but as professional footballers, we have to get ready for the second leg and play a better match. We are still hungry to win and we will do our best to win the second leg for the Indonesia supporters."

Meanwhile, Thailand coach Alexandre Polking refused to be complacent, and urged his players to match their "best performance" from the first leg.

He said: "There is no reason to change. We have the results, we still have the same hunger and play exactly the same way."

Another thing the 45-year-old Brazilian-German will not amend is his ensemble of black shirt and jeans, as he revealed his “terribly superstitious” side.

Polking laughed as he said: "It's the same shirt, the same socks, the same underwear. But they are clean, I can promise you that. I clean them every time when I come back from the game.

"So long as I don't lose a match, I don't change it. It is working, and I hope it will work until tomorrow."