Indonesia causes an earthquake: Beating Saudi Arabia, breaking Vietnam's record

Indonesia caused a stir when they won against Saudi Arabia at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium (Jakarta) on the evening of November 19. The team from the archipelago broke the record of the Vietnamese team, becoming the Southeast Asian team with the best performance in the third stage of the Asian World Cup qualifiers.

Saudi Arabia is not in good form in 2024. The West Asian team has only scored 3 goals (the fewest in all 3 groups). However, the top 8 Asian team, ranked 59th in the FIFA rankings, is still considered stronger than Indonesia.

Marselino Ferdinan scored two goals to help Indonesia defeat Saudi Arabia. (Photo: Reuters)

At home, the Southeast Asian representative surprised fans with an effective defensive counter-attacking style. Saudi Arabia kept the ball more and pressed the field for most of the match. However, Indonesia was the team with more sharp attacks.

Marselino Ferdinan was the star of the match. The striker born in 2004 is one of two players born in Indonesia that coach Shin Tae-yong trusted to start in this match.

Both of Indonesia's goals came from counter-attacks. Ferdinan showed composure and good finishing ability in scoring. Besides, Saudi Arabia's defense also did not play well.

The West Asian team's attack was deadlocked and they could not score. The home team's red card (Justin Hubner received a second yellow card) in the final minutes of the match did not help Saudi Arabia turn the situation around.

Indonesia successfully defended the score of 2-0 to have the first victory in the third round of the World Cup qualifiers in Asia. The team of thousands of islands has 6 points after 6 matches and has a great chance to win the right to continue. In Group C, except for the completely superior Japan, the gap between the 2nd and 6th teams is only 3 points.