Indonesia hit nine as Bangladesh suffer heavy ASEAN Cup defeat

 
Bangladesh's FIFA ASEAN Cup campaign ended on a chastening note as Indonesia thrashed them 9-2 in their final Group A match at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on Thursday.

The defeat left Bangladesh without a point from three matches in the inaugural tournament, having earlier lost 3-0 to Malaysia and 1-0 to Singapore.

Indonesia, playing in front of a home crowd and needing a positive result to keep their final hopes alive, tore through Bangladesh's defence in a remarkable first half. They raced into a 6-1 lead before the interval, with Mitchell Baker scoring four times.

Baker opened the floodgates in the 11th minute, finishing after Ole Romeny created the opening. The Indonesia forward continued to torment Bangladesh's defence, completing his first-half haul with three more goals.

Rizky Ridho and Justin Hubner were also on target as Indonesia turned the contest into a rout. Bangladesh briefly responded through Shahriar Emon, but the goal did little to stem the tide as Indonesia went into the break five goals clear.

The hosts added three more goals after the interval to reach nine, while Bangladesh managed one further reply to complete a 9-2 scoreline.

For Thomas Dooley's side, the result brought a difficult end to their first appearance in the FIFA ASEAN Cup. Bangladesh had entered the competition after accepting FIFA's invitation to join the inaugural eight-team Premier Division, with India withdrawing from the tournament.

The campaign had begun with a 3-0 defeat by Malaysia before Singapore edged Bangladesh 1-0 four days later. The final match against Indonesia was effectively a daunting test against a side still fighting for a place in the final.

The heavy loss also brought Bangladesh close to, but not beyond, the national team's record defeats. Their largest losses by margin remain the two 9-0 defeats against South Korea on 16 September 1979 and Iran on 18 February 1982.

Thursday's seven-goal defeat therefore ranks below those two results in terms of margin, although the 11-goal aggregate made it one of the highest-scoring defeats in Bangladesh's international history.

The Jakarta experience nevertheless gave Dooley and his players another demanding test ahead of a much bigger assignment at home, with Bangladesh preparing to host the SAFF Championship in November.