Mitchell Baker scores five, Malaysia win 6-0, go out on goals scored and ask FIFA to explain the added time, and Thailand are abysmal against the Philippines. Plus: previews of Monday’s final at the Gelora Bung Karno and the bronze match between Malaysia and Vietnam.

At 90 minutes on Thursday night in Jakarta, Indonesia were 7-1 up against Bangladesh, and had it finished there they would have been going out of their own tournament. In Bandung, Malaysia were beating Singapore 6-0, and the arithmetic was brutal in its simplicity: level on points, level on head-to-head, Malaysia were a goal better off. Then Bangladesh scored. Then, in the 96th and 97th minutes, Kevin Diks and Mitchell Baker scored for Indonesia, and John Herdman’s side were through to the final on goals scored. All three of those stoppage-time goals came after the two minutes of added time first shown at the Gelora Bung Karno had run out, and Malaysia want FIFA to tell them why.

Two group tables, both decided at the last possible moment, and the final the region wanted: Indonesia, six times beaten in ASEAN finals and never champions, against Thailand, who beat them in four of those six. Monday night, 20:00, the Gelora Bung Karno, around 70,000 people, and two coaches whose futures have been discussed in terms of this tournament.

Group A: Indonesia 9-2 Bangladesh

Indonesia

9-2

Bangladesh

Thu 1 Oct, Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta · Mitchell Baker 11′, 20′, 38′, 42′, 90+7′; Rizky Ridho 32′; Justin Hubner 45+2′; Luke Vickery 84′; Kevin Diks 90+6′ · Shahriar Emon 36′; Farhaan Ali Wahid 90+5′

Indonesia needed goals, and Mitchell Baker supplied most of them. The 19-year-old Melbourne-born striker, who was naturalised in July, scored a hat-trick on debut against Cambodia a fortnight later and is still technically a college player at Georgetown, had four by half-time. Indonesia led 6-1 at the break and should have been out of sight on goal difference.

They were not, because Mehedi Hasan Srabon spent the second half making the saves of his career. One goal from Luke Vickery in 84 minutes was all Indonesia had to show for 45 minutes of pressure, and when Farhaan Ali Wahid scored for Bangladesh five minutes into stoppage time the maths swung back to Malaysia. What followed was chaos: a confrontation between the players that briefly held up the game, Diks forcing in an eighth, and Baker turning in a ninth, his fifth, almost straight from the restart.

Mitchell Baker, Indonesia striker (to Football 360): “I think it’s the most crazy game I’ve ever played in… The fans are amazing. They got us over the line.”

Mitchell Baker (to CNN Indonesia, translated): “Tomorrow we’ll rebuild our strength and focus on the final match. We will give everything for this country because that’s why we’re here.”

The question Malaysia are asking is about the clock. Two minutes of added time were originally shown; the figure was then changed to seven. Without that change there is no Bangladesh goal in the 95th minute, no Diks in the 96th and no Baker in the 97th, and Malaysia, not Indonesia, are in the final. On Friday the Football Association of Malaysia said it would make a formal request to FIFA.

Football Association of Malaysia (statement, via The Star): “FAM take seriously the issue concerning the change of added time during the Indonesia-Bangladesh match… [FAM will] submit an official request to FIFA seeking clarification on the basis, procedures and circumstances that led to the change in the amount of added time.”

There may be a perfectly mundane answer. The confrontation between the players held the game up, and stoppages are what added time is for. But in a tournament run by FIFA, played in the host nation’s national stadium and decided by a single goal on the final night, “we need to know why” is a reasonable thing to ask. As of Saturday morning, neither FIFA nor PSSI had responded publicly. Whatever the answer, it will not change the result: the final will be Indonesia v Thailand.

Thomas Dooley had said before the game that he did not know whether the margin would be four, five or six. It was seven, and it was Bangladesh’s heaviest defeat in three years. They go home without a point, but with two goals against the hosts and the sense that their keeper deserved better.

Group A: Malaysia 6-0 Singapore

Malaysia

6-0

Singapore

Thu 1 Oct, Si Jalak Harupat, Bandung · Bergson da Silva 8′ (pen), 62′, 90+3′; Stuart Wilkin 26′; Paulo Josué 76′; Syahir Bashah 87′

Malaysia did everything asked of them and, by the original clock in Jakarta, it would have been enough. Bergson da Silva, who reached 35 with no caps before this tournament, scored from the spot after eight minutes and finished with a hat-trick. Stuart Wilkin, Paulo Josué and Syahir Bashah added the rest. By full time Malaysia had nine goals in three games and none conceded, and a better defensive record than anyone in the tournament.

It cost them the final by two goals scored. Malaysia and Indonesia finished on seven points, drew 0-0 with each other and both ended on +9. Indonesia had scored 11 to Malaysia’s nine.

Tan Cheng Hoe, Malaysia interim coach (to Bernama): “Our players performed very well and were committed in every movement… But in football, things like this happen. It is a case of joy amid disappointment.”

For Singapore, who arrived Asian Cup-bound and talking about momentum, it is a humbling end: three games, one goal, eight conceded, and a 6-0 hiding to finish.

Group B: Thailand 1-2 Philippines

Thailand

1-2

Philippines

Fri 2 Oct, Si Jalak Harupat, Bandung · Iklas Sanron 55′ · Bjørn Martin Kristensen 3′, 68′

Last week All Things Thai Football warned that if Thailand drew or lost, Anthony Hudson would get cooked. They lost, and on this evidence the grill deserves to be warm. Already through on head-to-head after Tuesday’s win over Vietnam, Hudson made nine changes, and a side containing Supachok Sarachat, Jude Soonsup-Bell and Anan Yodsangwal went behind inside three minutes in a game held up by more than half an hour for lightning: Paul Tabinas crossed from the right, and Bjørn Martin Kristensen was left alone to finish.

It was abysmal. Nine changes explain a lack of rhythm; they do not explain a side of full internationals that passed the ball as if meeting for the first time, rarely threatened the Philippines goal and were second best to a team whose own tournament was slipping away. Iklas Sanron’s equaliser, curled in from the right after Seksan Ratree’s pass 10 minutes after half-time, was Thailand’s only real moment. Thirteen minutes later Andre Leipold drove down the right unchecked and crossed, and Kristensen scored again.

Anthony Hudson, Thailand coach (via Bongda24h, translated): “Changing so many players in one match affected the continuity of our play… Our main objective awaits in the final, and that’s what truly matters.”

He is right about that, and nobody will remember Friday if Thailand win on Monday. But for the reserves who wanted to force their way into the final XI, it was an evening that settled the argument the other way.

The Philippines finish with four points, a win over Thailand and nothing else. Carles Cuadrat’s side were out of the bronze match before full time, because Vietnam were winning in Jakarta.

Group B: Vietnam 4-2 Pakistan

Vietnam

4-2

Pakistan

Fri 2 Oct, Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta · Nguyễn Hai Long 50′; Nguyễn Hoàng Đức 57′; Nguyễn Đình Bắc 80′; Williams Minh Hoàng 90+1′ · Mohib Ullah 31′; Ali Akbar Khan 88′

Pakistan led at half-time. Mohib Ullah, whose late block saved them a point against the Philippines, punished a Vietnamese mistake after 31 minutes, and for a while Nolberto Solano’s side looked capable of something extraordinary. Kim Sang-sik responded by sending on Nguyễn Đình Bắc and Phan Tuấn Tài at the break, and the game turned.

Hai Long equalised from Tuấn Tài’s pass five minutes after the restart, Hoàng Đức put Vietnam ahead from Đình Bắc’s assist, and Đình Bắc scored himself with 10 minutes left. Ali Akbar Khan, scorer of Pakistan’s first ever FIFA tournament goal on Tuesday, pulled one back with a deflected shot, before Williams Minh Hoàng, the 19-year-old English-born forward, finished a counter in stoppage time.

Kim Sang-sik, Vietnam coach (to Thanh Niên, translated): “Today, the weather was very hot. In the first half, the players’ concentration was affected quite a lot by the weather conditions. That’s why we had to concede a goal in the opening period.”

Pakistan leave with one point, four goals and more than they were expected to take. It is a better return than their ranking suggested.

The final tables

The bronze match: Malaysia v Vietnam

Malaysia

v

Vietnam

Mon 5 Oct, 16:00 (Bangkok time), Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta

Of the two Monday games, this is the one with the more interesting grievance. Malaysia are the only side in the Premier Division not to concede a goal and they will not play in the final. Vietnam are the reigning double ASEAN champions, they arrived having gone 26 games unbeaten and they lost to Thailand on Tuesday.

Malaysia’s case is Bergson da Silva, four goals in three games, and a back four that has not been breached. Tan’s B-team lost twice to Vietnam in August, both times 2-0, but this is a very different side: the Johor Darul Ta’zim spine is in, and Arif Aiman and Wilkin are a different level. Vietnam will be without Nguyễn Xuân Son, who is out of the tournament, and Kim has already said he will rotate after four games in ten days. He also said they would play it “like a final”. Expect Đình Bắc, who changed the game against Pakistan, to start.

Verdict: Malaysia, narrowly. Vietnam’s best players look tired and their best striker is in the stand.

The final: Indonesia v Thailand

Indonesia

v

Thailand

Mon 5 Oct, 20:00 (Bangkok time), Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta · Winners receive US$650,000

Indonesia have reached six ASEAN finals and lost all six. Four of those were to Thailand: 2000, 2002, 2016 and 2020. In all competitions Thailand lead the head-to-head comfortably, 37 wins to Indonesia’s 25 with 16 draws by 11v11’s count, and the last competitive meetings we can find, in the 2022 AFF Championship, ended 2-2 and 1-1. History, in other words, is entirely on one side. Home advantage, and the momentum of Thursday night, are on the other.

Indonesia play Herdman’s 3-4-2-1: three centre-backs, wing-backs as the engine and two inside-forwards behind the striker. The question is who that striker is. Ole Romeny was supposed to be the proven finisher; Baker now has five goals in one game, nine in seven caps, and a crowd who will chant his name before kick-off. Elkan Baggott was outstanding against Malaysia, Thom Haye should be back after his suspension, and Emil Audero and Maarten Paes give Herdman two top-level goalkeepers. The weakness is the one Vietnam exposed in August: a high press that can be played through, and a back three that has not faced a side as quick in transition as Thailand.

Thailand will be far better than they were on Friday; that much is certain. They have the better spine and the better record, and the nine changes mean most of Hudson’s first XI arrive rested. The full-strength 4-2-3-1 has Sarach Yooyen, scorer of the goal that beat Vietnam, as the pivot, Chanathip Songkrasin behind the striker, Supachok Sarachat on the left and Teerasak Poeiphimai, Thailand’s top scorer with three, up front, with Jude Soonsup-Bell pushing for a start. They have conceded twice all tournament, both on Friday with the reserves. Their weakness is the one their own fans keep pointing out: when they go ahead they stop playing, and nobody will sit deep at the Gelora Bung Karno on Monday and get away with it.

Anthony Hudson, Thailand coach, after beating Vietnam (to JPNN, translated): “Overall, our performance might not have fully aligned with how we want to play, but sometimes matches go like this.”

The key battle: Baker against Thailand’s centre-backs. Thailand have not faced a striker in this form, and Indonesia have not faced a midfield that can keep the ball like Sarach, Chanathip and Supachok can.

Verdict: Thailand are the better side and the full-strength XI will show it. But Indonesia have home advantage, 70,000 people, a 19-year-old who cannot stop scoring and the momentum of a night when everything went their way, including the clock. We think Thailand, just. If Indonesia score first, all bets are off.

The full team-by-team guide, with squads, probable line-ups and every result, is in our FIFA ASEAN Cup preview. Jump straight to Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia or Vietnam.

Sources: Detik — Indonesia 9-2 Bangladesh goal list, The Daily Star — Indonesia hammer Bangladesh 9-2, Football 360 — Mitchell Baker scores five, CNN Indonesia — Baker’s reaction, AsiaOne — Malaysia 6-0 Singapore, The Star — Malaysia hit Singapore for six, Malay Mail — Malaysia miss out on goals scored, Bernama — Tan Cheng Hoe after Singapore, VietNamNet — Thailand 1-2 Philippines, Bongda — Thailand 1-2 Philippines, 24h — Thailand v Philippines goals, Thanh Niên — Vietnam 4-2 Pakistan, CNN Indonesia — Vietnam v Malaysia for third, Thanh Niên — Kim Sang-sik after Pakistan, Antara — final and bronze match schedule, Naewna — final details and prize money, The Star — FAM want FIFA to explain added-time change, iNews — added time changed from 2 to 7 minutes, VnExpress — Thailand 1-2 Philippines, Bongda24h — Hudson after Philippines, JPNN — Hudson after Vietnam, 11v11 — Indonesia v Thailand record