On Monday evening Indonesia's main stadium, Gelora Bung Karno in Jakarta, was packed: all 67 thousand tickets had sold out long before kickoff.
The stands, dressed in the national red and white, drove their players forward from the opening minutes.
Indonesia had to fight not only for the first ever FIFA ASEAN Cup, but also against a bleak record: 35 years without a trophy and six lost finals at the Southeast Asian championship. And in the final they drew the toughest and most bitter rival in the region — Thailand.
The importance of the match was underlined by the guests in the VIP box: Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and FIFA head Gianni Infantino watched the game.
The first half hour passed without much happening. Thailand played cautiously, let Indonesia take the initiative and counted on quick transitions into attack. The hosts had more of the ball, but for a long time could not turn their attacks into dangerous shots.
In the stands, though, there was barely a pause. Fans of the Garuda — as the national team is known in Indonesia — made noise nonstop, and the longer the scoreboard stayed goalless, the more anxious that noise became.
The decisive moments began ten minutes before the end of regular time. In the 80th minute a Thai defender picked up a second yellow card and left his team down to ten men. A few minutes later Indonesia scored from a free kick: the ball deflected off a Thai player's leg and flew into the net. 1:0, and the stands erupted.
The cup was only minutes away. But just as the referee was already glancing at his watch, the unexpected happened. In the 87th minute the very player the ball had bounced off met a cross and leveled the score. The match went to extra time.
Indonesia did not want it to come down to penalties, pushed forward in numbers and conceded themselves — on the counterattack. The Garuda had about ten minutes left to save the game. Few still believed in a miracle, but in the 116th minute it happened: after a cross from the right the ball fell to Indonesia's center back, who had been moved up front late in the match, and he made it 2:2.
Everything was settled by the penalty shootout. The Indonesians showed nerves of steel and converted all four of their kicks. Thailand missed twice: one shot hit the frame of the goal, the other was saved by Indonesia's goalkeeper — and that save ended the game.
Seconds later the whole team poured onto the pitch: some dropped onto the grass, others hugged their teammates. The stands celebrated however they could — shouting, dancing with flags, crying.
The high point of the evening was a performance by the famous Indonesian singer Anggun Sasmi. She sang the patriotic song "Tanah Airku" ("My Homeland"), which traditionally closes the national team's matches. The entire stadium sang along, and Anggun herself could not hold back her tears.
President Prabowo confirmed that the players would receive bonuses, and that the head of the football federation would take care of it. He spoke about the win like this:
"We are happy, we are grateful, we are proud of how our team fought. They did not give up until the final seconds. It is an example: if you don't give up, you can win. And this may be the first time in history that we have won an international FIFA tournament."
Later the celebration moved to the press conference room. While head coach John Herdman and the defender who equalized in the 116th minute were answering questions, several players burst in with water pistols and soaked them both. The journalists got their share too.
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