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Indonesian captain: Crowd trouble 'more painful' than football defeat
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Indonesian goalkeeper Andritany Ardhiyasa could not hide his disappointment with the violent behaviour of Garuda squad fans in the match between Malaysia and Indonesia at Stadium Gelora Bung Karno last night.

Malaysia came from behind to beat Indonesia 3-2 in the Group G opener of the 2022 World Cup/2023 Asian Cup in front of more than 50,000 supporters of the Garuda team.

Admitting that he was affected by the result especially since Indonesia had led 2-1, Andritany said it was even more painful to see Indonesian fans invading the tracks and attacking a section of the Malaysian supporters.

“Very painful. Because we were leading twice and finally lost 3-2. Definitely sad...disappointed too...but honestly, it was more painful to witness what happened at the stadium.

“This has really tarnished the good name of Indonesia. By right, whatever the outcome of a match, we should accept it. As the captain of the national team, I’m very sad to see what happened and what was committed by our supporters tonight,” he told reporters after the match.

Apart from the crowd trouble which broke out after Malaysia’s midfielder Muhammad Syafiq Ahmad scored the equaliser in the 65th minute, Indonesian fans also hurled bottles and other objects into the area housing Malaysian supporters.

The incident forced South Korean referee Ko Hyungjin to stop the match for almost 10 minutes.

After order was restored, the game continued until the final whistle without any incident.

However, after the match the Harimau Malaya squad including officials were taken in armoured vehicles to their hotel for safety reasons.

- Bernama

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