Indonesia kicked off their Tiger Cup championship ambitions with an easy 3-nil win over Philippines at the 700th Anniversary Stadium this evening.

Victory was not the furthest from the minds of many who knew how strong Indonesia were compared to Philippines. And from the first whistle, they got the match underway with slick passing and quick movements that many a time seemed to leave the Filipinos for dead.

The opening fifteen minutes produced six attempts on goal by them before Philippines had their first real chance, a weak effort by midfielder, Ali Bernard Go.

Go was the most impressive man on the field for the Philippines, despite pre-match expectations being placed on the skipper Norman Fegidero. The latter had a disappointing game and was replaced just after thirty-four minutes by Australian-born Leigh Gunn.

Indonesia themselves needed a substitution to finally make the breakthrough. Coach Nandar Iskandar choosing to make an early change and send on the elegant Sugiantoro in place of the pacy and aggressive Djet Donald La Ala on twenty-six minutes. The switch necessary to change the 3-5-2 formation into a 4-4-2 sweeper system.

And within four minutes, Indonesia took the lead on the half hour mark after a defensive slip allowed skipper Santoso to play a neat one-two with Kurniawan before chipping the ball past Edmundo Mercado in the Philippines goal.

Philippines' best chance of the half, fell to Go, who saw his 35 metre free-kick bounce off the top of the Indonesian crossbar and out. It was the closest effort that had Komang Putra, the Indonesian 'keeper worry about.

The lead remained unchanged at the break and the Philippines' bench certainly looked relieved by the referee's whistle.

The second half started the same way as the first with the Indonesians again pressing and keeping Philippines on the back pedal.

And just ten minutes into the second period, the pressure was rewarded as Kurniawan doubled the lead with an opportunistic strike, rifling home from within the penalty box giving the 'keeper no chance at all to make the score 2-0.

The hugely impressive Kurniawan continued his torment of the Philippines' defenders on the afternoon with intelligent running and passing that brought back vivid memories of the same player six years ago when he made the colours of Sampdoria in the Italian Serie A.

It was indeed his show and whilst his team-mates seemed to take their feet off the gas pedal, he was unrelenting, seeing three more of his shots being pushed away by Mercado.

Coach Nandar then made two more substitutions, bringing on Gendut Christiawan and Budiman in place of Mirobaldo Bento and Aji Santoso. Clearly it was a move to rest the players for the match against favourites Thailand.

The marauding red-shirted Indonesians added their third of the night after eighty-three minutes, through Eko Purjianto. The defender-turned-midfielder darted in to meet Ismed Sofeyan's cross from the right with a superb header to confirm his team's superiority.

After the match, coach Nandar spoke of his satisfaction with the win and said that playing in the afternoon heat was not easy.

Said Nandar: "Usually Indonesia is compared in the same breath as Thailand. Today was not a real test of our strength. That will come against Thailand. We needed to win and we won.

"The heat was a factor that we must adjust to but all in all I am happy."

Meanwhile, Philippines' coach Rodolfo Alicante said that he was not upset with the loss but with the way his boys played.

"We can definitely play better. It was not to be today and I hope the boys have learned from the experience," he said.

source: www.tigerbeer.com