JAKARTA, 11 July 2007 — Indonesia scored a famous 2-1 victory over Bahrain yesterday to kick off its Asian Cup campaign in style as China made mincemeat of minnows Malaysia.

Strikes by Budi Sudarsono and Bambang Pamungkas canceled out Sayed Mahmood Jalal’s goal to give rank outsiders Indonesia the perfect start at a throbbing Gelora Bung Karno stadium.

It continued the flavor of the tournament that has seen unfancied teams pull off shock wins or unexpected draws, including Vietnam’s victory over UAE, Oman’s draw with Australia and Japan’s failure to get past Qatar. It was more routine in Kuala Lumpur where China ran rings around Malaysia in a 5-1 romp in Group C.

Han Peng and Wang Dong both grabbed braces and Shao Jiayi also hit the mark as the 2004 runners-up sent a message to their title rivals and eased pressure on embattled coach Zhu Guanghu.

“We played like an army,” said Indonesia’s Bulgarian coach Ivan Kolev after watching his side go top of Group D, with Saudi Arabia and South Korea playing their tournament opener tomorrow.

“They wanted to win and they proved they can win. All of my players performed well. Noone disappointed.” He paid tribute to the fans, with at least 70,000 cramming the ground to witness only the second victory by Indonesia in three Asian Cup campaigns.

“Thank you to the fans, they made the difference,” said Kolev.

The match was won in the 64th minute when Pamungkas was on hand to slot home the rebound after the excellent Firman Utina’s fierce drive had been tipped onto the post by Bahrain goalkeeper Abdulrahman Abdulkarim. Bahrain mentor Milan Macala was less enthused with his team, criticizing them for failing to bury their chances.

“It’s simple. If you don’t score goals you don’t win matches,” said the veteran Czech of a side that made the semifinals at the last Asian Cup in 2004.

“We had three or four good chances and players with experience like us must score. This is the reason we lost. There are no other reasons.”

China coach Zhu has been under huge pressure after a series of lackluster displays from his team, but they finally came good at the National Stadium, accelerating from a pedestrian start to halt Malaysia in its tracks.

But he refused to get carried away.

“This is just the start, this is just the first match. There are two more and I think the final result of the group stage is what matters,” he said, praising his overseas-based stars for leading the way. “We called back our overseas players — Sun Jihai, Zheng Zhi and Shao Jiayi — and they gained good control of the midfield and organized very good attacks.” Lowly Malaysia was always going to be the group whipping boys and they must now refocus to prevent any further embarrassment against Uzbekistan on Saturday. Coach Norizan Bakar said they lost the match in the middle of the park. “This is not a good start for us,” said the 46-year-old of the lowest ranked team in the tournament.

“We tried to match the China team but China kept possession of the ball in midfield, so that is the area where they hurt us.” The Uzbeks get their competition under way against regional heavyweights Iran tomorrow.

Japan’s Players Get Yet Another Osim Earful

In Hanoi, Japan’s players got yet another verbal volley from coach Ivica Osim at the Asian Cup yesterday with their ears still ringing from the last one.

The Bosnian delivered his latest tongue-lashing at training in Hanoi 24 hours after the defending champions were stunned by a late equalizer in their opening game against Qatar.

Osim had vented his fury at his players after their 1-1 draw in their Group B opener and began yesterday’s session with a 20-minute lecture on the finer points of defending.

“The contents of what was said didn’t exactly come as a shock,” Frankfurt striker Naohiro Takahara told reporters. “We are strong enough as a team to turn things around.” Osim has not been one for mincing his words since taking charge of the Japan team following their meek exit from the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

He mocked Japanese reporters for asking about his future before the Asian Cup had even started while his furious tirade after Monday’s game reduced his interpreter to tears.

But the 66-year-old’s fury failed to upset at least one Japanese player with Shunsuke Nakamura looking far more concerned with a mosquito bite on his backside.

Wincing in discomfort, the Celtic midfielder was not shy about showing eager photographers his backside as he scratched away at the offending itch.