INDONESIA UPDATED. Indonesia will meet arch football rival Thailand and host Myanmar in the first round of the 2013 Southeast Asian Games football competition, with the groups drawn on Wednesday in the Myanmar capital Naypyidaw.
Drawn in Group B, Indonesia joins Thailand, Myanmar, Timor Leste and Cambodia, with group A comprising Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Laos.
While most teams in the region are on a level playing field, Indonesia has ended up in the toughest group. Head Coach Rahmad Darmawan said the draw by the Asean Football Federation had gone well, despite the challenge Indonesia now faces.
“The draw divided the teams in a fair manner. Now, we have to focus on our opponents in group B,” Rahmad told reporters on Wednesday.
“We now have to study Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia,” Rahmad said, adding that each opponent would provide a tough challenge.
Timor Leste is a familiar entity, having played out a goalless-draw against Indonesia in Jakarta in October, in a game marked by strong defensive pressure from both sides.
Thailand has won the football event 13 times since 1959, while Myanmar has won the gold medal four times. Malaysia has won six times and was the defending champion for the last two events, in 2009 and 2011.
Rahmad has already picked his 30-man squad for the event, and the team will have two tryout matches against two Hong Kong clubs, Citizen AA and Sun Pegasus, on Nov. 12 and 14.
Indonesia has suffered from a gold medal drought in football since 1991, when it won in Manila. Two years ago, it fell short in the final, losing 4-3 to bitter rival Malaysia in a penalty shootout.
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