SEA Games: Pride restored as Young Lions keep slim hopes alive with Laos win

KUALA LUMPUR – It will still require a miracle for them to reach the semi-finals of the South-East Asian (SEA) Games, but Singapore’s under-22 football team did their part to keep their slim hopes of staying in the tournament alive, as they beat Laos 2-0 at the Selayang Stadium on Friday afternoon (Aug 18).

Two first-half goals from Taufik Suparno and Ikhsan Fandi were enough for the Young Lions to secure their first victory of the tournament.

The win sees Singapore move up to third place in Group A, with Myanmar, who beat Brunei 6-0 today, topping the table with a perfect nine points from three games.  Malaysia are second on six points, albeit with a game in hand.

This means the only way for Singapore to advance to the knockout stage of the tournament will be if Malaysia loses their remaining two games against Myanmar and Laos.

While it remains unlikely for Singapore to advance from the group stages, their victory over Laos would have at least gone some way to restoring the pride and belief of a Young Lions side still smarting from their defeats to Myanmar (0-2) and Malaysia (1-2) this past week.

Said Young Lions captain Irfan Fandi: “We went into today's game (against Laos) wanting a win. I told the team that I didn’t want to go back with a loss, especially after our previous two defeats. 

“Thankfully, we answered (the challenge) with a win, so we're very happy, and the boys are more confident now. In our next game (against Brunei), we’ll definitely be going all out again.”

Head coach Richard Tardy added: “I told my players that we need to take two wins against Laos and Brunei. Today, we've completed 50 percent of the job. 

“I tried to lessen the pressure on my players, because they are tired from spending a lot of energy physically and mentally from the previous two games. I’m happy with our result, we took three points and now we have four days to prepare for our last game against Brunei.”

Widely criticised for failing to take at least a point from their previous two games, the Young Lions appeared eager to prove a point against Laos in front of the 351-strong crowd at Selayang.

They got off to the perfect start in the second minute, when Hanafi Akbar’s pinpoint cross into the box was fired home from close range by the onrushing Taufik.

The Young Lions did not have to wait long to double their advantage – just nine minutes, to be exact.

This time, it was striker Ikhsan who got on the scoresheet, as he calmly converted a penalty which he had earned after being fouled by defender Sipasong Bounthavy.

With a comfortable two-goal lead, Singapore began to take their foot off the pedal, which allowed Laos to settle into the game.

And Singapore were very nearly made to pay for their complacency in the 22nd minute, with Laos’ Phanthavong Thanin allowed the time and space in midfield to fire a long-range shot which sailed narrowly wide.

But the Young Lions still looked dangerous going forward, and they nearly put the result beyond any reasonable doubt a minute before half-time when Ikhsan was set through on goal. 

However, the striker’s touch to take the ball away from the goalkeeper was just too heavy, which allowed a covering Laotian defender to intercept the ball and clear the danger.

Laos started the second half brightly and came close to pulling a goal back just three minutes after the restart, but Natphasouk Soukchinda’s powerful header was well saved by Singapore custodian Zharfan Rohaizad.

Ikhsan then had the 150-odd Singapore fans who had travelled to Selayang on their feet in the 53rd minute as his header from Hami Syahin’s free-kick hit the back of the net. However, the goal was eventually ruled out by the referee for a prior infringement.

Laos continued to press Singapore hard as they searched for a way back into the game, with their best two chances of the half falling to midfielders Kongmathilath Phithack and Phommathep Phathana.

Singapore however, ended the game strongly as the Laotians began to tire, with Taufik hitting the side-netting in the 87th minute after being set through on goal by substitute Joshua Pereira.

Joshua himself nearly got on the scoresheet at the death, but his shot from close range hit the post.

His miss mattered little however, as Singapore held onto secure all three points to keep themselves alive at the SEA Games.

Despite the win, Tardy said he was not pleased with the way his charges lost their focus after taking the two-goal lead.

“I’m unhappy because we lost to Myanmar and Malaysia despite playing well…(yet) today we don’t play well and we get the win,” the Frenchman said.

“After scoring two goals, the players lost their concentration as they thought it would be an easy game. But in football, you cannot take it easy in any game or you will be punished.

“But this is a very young team, and they will take valuable experience from playing in this tournament. We have very little chance of progressing to the semis, but even if we don’t qualify, they will learn from this and return for the SEA Games in two years’ time as better players.”

Laos head coach Mike Wong, a Singaporean, said the result could have been different if they had not conceded the early goals.

“I didn’t expect to lose, and I believe we could have done better today,” said Wong, who was previously the assistant to former Singapore national coach Radojko Avramovic.

“But we didn't start the game well, we couldn't string the passes fast enough, and they got a penalty within 10 minutes. We also had two injuries in the first 30 minutes, so we had to reshuffle the whole team. When we went two goals down, we lost our composure.

“Although we reorganised ourselves in the second half, it was too difficult for us to come back. Credit to the Singapore team though, they came at us in the first 15 minutes, they got a two-goal cushion, and eventually got the victory they wanted.”