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Indonesia coach Shin Tae-yong defends players from accusations of foul play

Indonesia's run to the AFF Suzuki Cup 2020 semifinals has been fuelled by some raw, exciting young talent thriving on an enterprising and fearless style of play.

But their relentless high-pressing game has also seen accusations directed their way -- mostly from rival fans -- of an overaggressive team, whose attempts to get in the face of their opponents border on illegal.

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Having already been on the receiving end of such criticism in the earlier round, where they finished top of Group B ahead of reigning champions Vietnam, Indonesia once again faced such criticism on social media in Wednesday's 1-1 semifinal first leg draw against Singapore.

A majority of the predominantly-Singaporean 9,952 crowd that turned up at the National Stadium for the tie were left incensed with a series of challenges from the Indonesians, even more so given several went unpunished by the referee.

Nonetheless, Indonesia coach Shin Tae-yong was quick to insist his side harbours no ill intent whenever they take to the field.

"I don't think we're that aggressive in our play. In fact, one of the things I learnt about Southeast Asian football when I first took charge of Indonesia is that the players don't go in aggressively enough," Shin said, when asked by ESPN on his reaction to the criticism.

"That doesn't mean our players every go out to hurt anyone on the field. That is not a way I educate or coach our players. We respect all the players on the field.

"Having a physical approach is something we need to do, so I have no problem with that at all."

The South Korean tactician, who famously led his homeland to a stunning 2-0 win over then-champions Germany at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, would have been more bothered by the way his side dominated the first half against Singapore and claimed a deserving lead through Witan Sulaeman's 28th-minute opener, only to let the opposition back into the game in the second 45 and force the draw courtesy of Ikhsan Fandi's equaliser 20 minutes from time.

"I'm definitely not happy with the result, but I was expecting that -- somewhere along the way in the tournament -- we would have a challenging period. It's a bit unfortunate that it happened today," added Shin.

"I thought the players looked really tired after all the group-stage matches and it showed in the second half, which allowed the momentum to go Singapore's way.

"Moving forward, we must now have good recovery from this fatigue and prepare well for the second leg."