Madura United winger, Andi Irfan, controls the ball under SP Falcons midfielder, Nemanja Krusevac, in the 2024-2025 Asian Challenge League Group E match, Sunday (27/10/2024), at the MFF Stadium, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Madura United managed to qualify for the final.
ULAN BATOR, SATURDAY — Madura United answered the doubts of the national football public regarding their debut in Asia, specifically the 2024-2025 Asian Challenge League. The first victory of “Laskar Sape Kerrab” in the continental event resulted in a ticket to the quarter-finals.
Madura secured their place at the top of Group E after beating the Cambodian ambassador, Svay Rieng, 2-1 at the MFF (Mongolian Football Federation) Sports Center Stadium, Saturday (2/11/2024). A goal contribution from foreign striker, Maxuel, in the 12th minute and a suicide goal from Svay Rieng’s central defender, Mizuno Hikaru, in the 39th minute sealed the four-point collection. runner-up BRI Liga 1 2023-2024.
One goal from Svay Rieng was scored by attacking midfielder Min Ratanak when the match lasted 29 minutes. As a result, Madura collected four points from two games, while Svay Rieng, champions of the Cambodian League last season, closed the Group E competition with three points thanks to beating the home team SP Falcons.
Also read: Cold temperatures in Mongolia do not hinder Madura United
Laskar Sape Kerrab will face second place in Group D, Taiwan Steel, in the home-and-away quarter-finals. On the other hand, Svay Rieng faced Group D winners, Shan United from Myanmar. The quarter-final matches will be held on March 6 and March 13 2025.
Winners of the top eight will compete in the semifinals which are also zone finals. Madurese inhabit the eastern zone. In the west zone, the four teams that have confirmed their place in the quarter-finals are Al-Arabi (Kuwait) who will duel with Al-Seeb (Oman), then East Bengal (India) and Arkadag (Turkmenistan).
Madura United midfielder, Jordy Wehrmann, controls the ball in the middle of an SP Falcons player in the 2024-2025 Asian Challenge League Group E match, Sunday (27/10/2024), at the MFF Stadium, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
The semi-final or zone final will be held on April 9-10 2025 and April 16-17 2025. The top match will be held at a neutral venue in one game format on May 10 2025.
Solace
Madura’s progress to the knockout phase of the Asian Challenge League, the third caste competition between Asian clubs, is a solace for the failure of Indonesia’s main hope, Persib Bandung, who competed in the Champions League Two.
Also read: Madura vs Malut, Sharing Numbers in First Match
The path of “Maung Bandung”, nicknamed Persib, to the knockout phase was very difficult. They have only scored one point from three matches. Persib is five points behind Port FC (Thailand) who sits in second place or is within reach of qualifying for the round of 16.
With a collection of one win and one draw from Madura, Indonesian League 1 will get additional points in calculating the progress of club ambassadors for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) competition coefficient. The points obtained will determine the ranking of League 1 in Asia. This season, Liga 1 sits in 26th place in the AFC competition ranking.
Madura United’s attacking midfielder, Lulinha, controls the ball in the 2024-2025 Asian Challenge League Group E match against SP Falcons, Sunday (27/10/2024), at the MFF Stadium, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Madura’s ability, which is still ranked 16th in Liga 1 2024-2025, to compete in the Asian Challenge League is not just the quality of the competition which is not strong. Indeed, in terms of ranking, the Cambodian League and Mongolian League are still below the Indonesian League 1 because they are ranked 32nd and 40th in Asia respectively, but Madura can appear effective in achieving their goals in Asia.
Madura coach Paulo Menezes carefully prioritizes a strategy based on the final result rather than pursuing an attacking game. This way of playing is also a solution to the difficulties experienced by Madura due to playing in low temperatures, -4 degrees Celsius, and on synthetic fields.
However, Laskar Sape Kerrab appeared very effective even though they only recorded 35 percent of ball possession. Madura was able to produce 11 shots with four shots on target. On the other hand, Svay Rieng created three shots on goal from 10 attempts.
Seconds count
Madura’s counterattack style started mid-block pressing causing Svay Rieng to fail to provide a significant threat, even starting Madura’s two goals in the first half.
Madura United center striker, Maxuel da Silva, tries to defend the ball from SP Falcons defender, Taiyo Tomoda, in the 2024-2025 Asian Challenge League Group E match, Sunday (27/10/2024), at the MFF Stadium, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The match ended in a goalless draw.
Madura only needed four seconds from Lulinha, the wing striker and team captain, taking control of Svay Rieng’s ball in the middle third of the field until Maxuel beat Svay Rieng’s goalkeeper, Dara Vireak.
In the second goal, Madura also needed a matter of seconds from winning the ball to finally hitting Svay Rieng’s goal net. Laskar Sape Kerrab only needed a positive transition process for 11 seconds to panic the Svay Rieng defense so that Hikaru and Vireak miscommunicated and collided after Hikaru headed the ball towards his own goal.
