One of England’s greatest ever wingers Peter Taylor may have had his own personal doubts, amid public celebration, after his Bahrain side rained 10 unanswered goal on hapless Indonesia in an Asian Cup qualifying tie in Manama.
Taylor's Bahrain failed to advance but it is Indonesia who are under investigation
A former Leicester City and Bradford coach, Taylor played with distinction for Crystal Palace and Spurs and took over the role as head coach in the Gulf State last July.
He coached England on one occasion and gave David Beckham the England captaincy for the first time.
His Bahrain side needed a nine goal win to stand any chance of qualification for the next round while hoping World Cup 2022 hosts Qatar lost to Iran.
A late equaliser by the Qataris against Iran dashed the hopes but FIFA are curious about the outcome in the Bahrain v Indonesia game.
In a statement, FIFA explained:
“Given the unusual outcome in relation to the results-expectation and head-to-head history, and in the interests of maintaining unequivocal confidence in our game, FIFA Security will conduct a routine examination of this game and its result.”
In their previous six encounters with Indonesia, Bahrain had won two, drawn two and lost two. Nine goals was their total in those six games, one less than they scored in one game on Wednesday.
The drama began when just two minutes into this game, Indonesia lost goalkeeper Syamsidar Syamsidar to a red card. Mohammed Tayeb and Sayid Dhiya both scored hat-tricks, but a Mohammed Kasola strike four minutes from time in Tehran earned Qatar a 2-2 draw against Iran and dashed Bahraini hopes.
Although no other country has lodged a formal complaint, the margin of victory was not the sole cause to trigger FIFA concern. Recently the Indonesian Football authorities (PSSI) (on FIFA orders) banned a number of players from playing for the country after they joined a well funded breakaway league, the Indonesian Super League.
Current coach Aji Santoso lost players like Bambang Pamungkas, Boaz Solossa, Firman Utina, Irfan Bachdim and Cristian Gonzales and was told to replace them with youngsters by the new regime at the PSSI. The coach was making his international debut, as were ten of his 18 players
It was Indonesia’s record loss eclipsing the previous record, a 9-0 loss to Denmark in a friendly in Copenhagen on Sept. 3, 1974.
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