INDONESIA do not fear a hostile reception from Malaysian fans in the final first leg at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil tomorrow when they attempt to win the AFF Suzuki Cup for the first time.
After winning all five of their matches so far, albeit each one in Jakarta, Indonesia are considered the favourites with the added advantage of having beaten Malaysia 5-1 in the preliminary stage.
"It's no problem, it's the same for us whether we are playing in Kuala Lumpur or Jakarta.," said Indonesia team manager Andi Darussalam, standing in for coach Alfred Riedl at the pre-match press conference in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
"We are used to playing here and Bambang (Pamungkas) has experience playing here from his days with Selangor."
Indonesia have reason to be confident as they have not lost to Malaysia in their past five meetings here, dating back to 1989.
Andi however played down the fierce rivalry between Malaysia and Indonesia and hoped the match will be played in the right spirit.
"After playing each other in Jakarta, both teams are familiar with each other and we are looking forward to a classic clash on Sunday (tomorrow).
"This is a football match for 90 minutes and there is nothing else to it. We are all friends, from the same background. We should not bring politics into it," added Andi, in attempting to defuse the distaste for the Malaysian team by a segment of the Indonesian fans.
Riedl's absence from the press conference is probably to deflect attention and pressure away from him to deliver the trophy after falling at the last hurdle three times in a row from 2000 to 2005.
The Austrian however did speak to the Malaysian press after yesterday's training session at the National Sports Complex and despite having his injured players back in training, was reluctant to say if he would play them.
Tournament top scorer Cristian Gonzales was earlier reported to have suffered a groin strain but showed no ill effects from the supposed injury.
Skipper Firman Utina is likely to lead his team out tomorrow while winger Oktovianus Maniani has also recovered although both Riedl and Andi said the latter's participation tomorrow is still in doubt.
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