The Futsalroos’ 2019 AFF Futsal Championship campaign ended on Wednesday evening in Vietnam, suffering an 8-3 defeat to Indonesia at the Phu Tho Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City.
Despite making a strong start to the encounter – which saw Tobias Seeto’s powerful effort rattle the woodwork – the Futsalroos fell behind after Indonesia scored following a counter-attack.
Australia responded smartly with Jarrod Basger levelling proceedings, however Indonesia then took control of the encounter, scoring to make the score 2-1 at the break before adding another two goals shortly after half time to take a commanding 4-1 lead.
Knowing that they required a result to advance to the semi-finals of the competition, the Futsalroos showed good spirit to bring the game back to 4-3, with goals from Daniel Fogarty and Greg Giovenali sparking the revival.
But as Australia pushed forward aiming to restore parity to the contest again, gaps appeared in the Futsalroos’ defence and Indonesia took full advantage to score four late goals to add to the scoreline.
The result means that the Futsalroos finished third in Group B at the 2019 AFF Futsal Championship, and have subsequently missed out on qualification for the 2020 AFC Futsal Championship to be held in Turkmenistan next year.
