On 29 February 2012, the Bahraini and Indonesian national association football teams faced each other in a qualifying match for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The match was played at the Bahrain National Stadium in Riffa, Bahrain. The match ended as the biggest win for Bahrain, and the biggest defeat for Indonesia. This match is known for a FIFA match-fixing investigation afterwards.
Before this match, Bahrain needed to score nine goals against Indonesia and hope Qatar lost their next match against Iran to overtake Qatar and qualify for the next round. However, Qatar secured an 83rd-minute equalizer, leaving Bahrain's 10–0 victory insufficient, as Qatar progressed instead.
Background Prior to the final matchday the table was:
Before the game, Bahrain required a winning margin of nine goals to stand any chance of progressing to the next stage.
Leading up to the game, Indonesia had lost all five matches to date in their qualification group, allowing 16 goals in the process. Internal conflict in the Football Association of Indonesia led them to prevent all Indonesia Super League players from playing. They only sent players who play in the Indonesian Premier League, although Indonesia's regular, better, and more experienced national players play in the Indonesia Super League. Indonesia was understood to have fielded inexperienced players due to this situation.
Prior to this match, Indonesia's record loss was 9–0, recorded in 1974 at the hands of Denmark.
In the six previous meetings between the two teams, each team had won twice, with two matches having been drawn. Both teams had met earlier in this round at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, with Bahrain winning 2–0. Prior to the qualification process, both teams last met at the same venue during the 2007 AFC Asian Cup group stage match on 10 July 2007. Hosts Indonesia won 2–1, avenging the 3–1 defeat at the same stage nearly three years earlier.
Match summary Indonesia started the game with an inexperienced side, with no player holding more than 12 international caps due to dualism only allowing those from the Indonesian Premier League to represent the national team. This was also the international debut for eight Indonesian starters (except Syamsidar, Irfan Bachdim, and Ferdinand Sinaga). They suffered an early setback when their goalkeeper Syamsidar was shown the red card in the first three minutes. After Bahrain scored the resultant penalty, they went on to be awarded a total of four penalties in the match, including three in the first half, although substitute Indonesia goalkeeper Andi Muhammad Guntur managed to save two of the four kicks.
Match details
GK 1 Sayed Mohammed JafferCB 3 Abdulla Al-MarzooqiCB 5 Saleh AbdulhameedCB 2 Waleed Al HayamDM 7 Abdulwahab Al-SafiRM 15Abdullah OmarCM 4 Sayed Dhiya SaeedCM 13Mahmood Abdulrahman LM 14Salman Isa (c)CF 11Ismail AbdullatifCF 10Mohammed Tayeb Al AlawiSubstitutes:MF 18Fahad Hasan Manager: Peter Taylor GK 1 Syamsidar (c) RB 14Hengky ArdilesCB 13Gunawan Dwi Cahyo CB 22Abdul Rahman LB 15Diego Michiels DM 8 Muhammad TaufiqRM 10Irfan BachdimCM 19Slamet Nurcahyono CM 6 Rendi IrwanLM 11Aditya Putra Dewa CF 17Ferdinand SinagaSubstitutes:GK 12Andi Muhammad Guntur DF 7 Ricky Ohorella DF 23Wahyu Wijiastanto Manager:Aji Santoso
Assistant referees: Ziad Birak (Lebanon) Hadi El Kassar (Lebanon) Fourth official: Radwan Ghandour (Lebanon)
Post match The final table was as follows:
Following the match, Indonesia finished the third round with the worst overall record of the 20 competing teams, having scored no points at all in the round while conceding a total of 26 goals.
Bahrain also failed to qualify for the following stage of qualifying, finishing with two wins, three draws and a single loss.
References
External links Official match report at FIFA.com