Greg Nwokolo (right) and Eden Hazard. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
The friendly match between English team Chelsea and the Indonesian All Stars went smoothly despite reports of a dispute between the main sponsor and a local promoter right up to the final minutes before kick off.
However, the hosts played like deers caught in headlights after they suffered a humiliating defeat from their guests 1-8 in front of the crowd of over 80,000 that packed the Gelora Bung Karno stadium in Senayan on Thursday night.
Chelsea — the winner of the 2013 Europa League and last year's Champions League — had pressed the Indonesian team since the first half with four goals coming from Bertrand Traore through a penalty kick in the 21st minute followed by a goal scored by Ramires eight minutes later.
The third goal was scored by Demba Ba who successfully slotted in a rebound from Eden Hazard, followed by another goal from John Terry in 45th minute of the game.
The All stars team, managed by former national team coach Rahmad Darmawan, seemed to buckle under pressure against Chelsea with the remaining four goals scored in the second half through Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and Ramires with Lukaku adding a second in the 72nd minute.
The consolation goal for Indonesia was scored by Tomas Kalas who accidentally put the ball into his own net after he knocked in a cutback from Greg Nwokolo in the 69th minute.
Rahmad said after the match that in the first 15 minutes of the game everything was under control until Chelsea started to change their style of play. "Our wingers, Andik and Ferdinand, were quite fast. Unfortunately they often lost composure when they lost the ball."
He argued that his line-up consisted of the best players he could get.
Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho said it was a positive result for his team because all players were trying hard to improve and played a good game. "We can go home pleased now."
Chelsea had won all previous matches of their pre-season Asia Tour with a 1-0 win over Thailand and 4-1 against Malaysia.
Chelsea was the third English team that visited Jakarta this month. Arsenal came first and beat the host 7-0, followed by Liverpool, which defeated the host 2-0 last week.
There had been reports about local organizers who had charged each fan up to Rp 22 million (US$2,160) for Chelsea's pre-match events.
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