Locking horns with the Timor-Leste national team for the second time in a week, the Indonesia national team managed to blow their opposition out of the water once again on Sunday, this time with a more convincing fashion as Shin Tae-yong’s charges battered their opponents 3-0 at the Kapten I Wayan Dipta Stadium in Gianyar, Bali. However, the win was overshadowed by a number of COVID-19 cases at both camps, which left Indonesia with only five substitutes for the match.
Having won the first encounter 4-1 on Thursday, Tae-yong, who was unhappy with how Indonesia conducted themselves in the first match’s first half, started his strongest possible lineup on Sunday, which featured the likes of Pratama Arhan, Ramai Rumakiek, Alfreandra Dewangga, and Nadeo Argawinata. Rather concerningly, Tae-yong only named five players in his substitutes bench – Achmad Figo, Sani Rizki Fauzi, Ernando Ari, and Dedik Setiawan.
Unlike the first match in which Indonesia had a disappointing first half, the Timnas Garuda started the rematch like a house on fire, going 1-0 up as early as the 5th minute thanks to Terens Puhiri. Persipura Jayapura youngster Ramai then made it 2-0 in the 41st minute, before Indonesia went into cruise control mode in the second half, only sealing the win in the 72nd minute through Ricky Kambuaya.
After the match, Tae-yong revealed that the reason behind his decision to name only five players as his substitutes was because eight of Indonesia’s players had tested positive for COVID-19.
“We’ve done daily PCR tests to ensure the safety of our players,” Tae-yong said in his post-match press conference, “The test before the game revealed that eight of our players were COVID positive.”
Tae-yong himself was confused on how the eight players had gotten the coronavirus, considering that the Indonesia national team has been quite strict with their health protocols. The identities of the players affected were not revealed.
Tae-yong’s Timor-Leste counterpart Fabio Magrao also revealed that his squad has been affected by a COVID outbreak, with four of his players being tested positive for the disease. A Timor-Leste physiotherapist and the national team’s driver had also tested positive for COVID.
Refusing to disclose the identities of the players affected, Fabio only had this to say regarding his side’s outbreak, “Three of our midfielders and one of our defender had been tested positive for COVID, even though we’ve been implementing strict health protocols at our hotel in Legian.”