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Indonesia fought back to hold Qatar to a 2-2 draw in a friendly held at the Saoud bin Abdulrahman Stadium at Wakrah earlier this week. |
Though it was the visiting team which took the lead in the first minute by Persebaya Club’s Richardo Salampessy, the hosts, who were playing in front of hundreds of supporters, equalised in the 39th by Khaled Muftah.
In the second half, both the teams played more attractive game as El Jaish striker Abdulkhadir Bakur put the hosts in the lead in the 54th minute, but substitute Irfan Bachdim equalised on injury time to secure a famous draw for the Southeast Asian side.
Qatar will also host Uzbekistan on October 4 and Australia on the 14th of the same month. The friendlies are the part of Qatar preparations for the Gulf Cup in Riyadh and Asian Cup in Australia, in November and January, respectively.
The Indonesian Ambassador to Qatar Deddy Saiful Hadi and his wife Endang Deddy Saiful Hadi were among the spectators. The ambassador congratulated the Indonesia coach Alfred Reidl for his team’s good show.
“I feel great. The Indonesian national team gave their best efforts and they deserved to our appreciation. It is a blessing of Ramadan. For the first time, Indonesia played a draw with Qatar. Qatar ranked above the Indonesian, but the Indonesians were amazing today. We, the Embassy of Indonesia in Qatar will continue to support and facilitate any event or similar games in the future,” said Deddy.