Defence vital as Under-23s face Myanmar in AFC qualifiers

SINGAPORE — A watertight defence will be key for Singapore if they are to beat hosts Myanmar in their Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-23 championship qualifying match tonight, says former national coach and Football Association of Singapore technical director PN Sivaji.

Currently the technical director of Myanmar National League side Hanthawaddy United, Sivaji has been impressed by the Myanmar team’s prowess in attack.

And he has warned the Young Lions that they will be punished for any lapse in concentration at the back.

“They’re very good going forward…they are an attacking-minded team full of running with talented individuals who can cause lots of problems for Singapore’s defence,” the 65-year-old told TODAY.

“In particular, Singapore will have to look out for their striker Aung Thu, who is already a regular for the senior national team.

“He is intelligent, can score goals and links up play well with his teammates.

“However when I look at this Young Lions side, their strength seems to be a good backline with intimidating defenders.

“But they will have to be switched on throughout the game or they will be punished.”

Sivaji however, added that Myanmar have “weak spots in defence”, referring in particular to inexperienced goalkeeper Wai Lin Aung.

He also told the Young Lions to expect a hostile crowd at the Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon tonight.

“As this is the first match for Myanmar, the (home) crowd is likely to be at full strength and will be extremely vocal,” said Sivaji.

“My concern is that many of the Singapore players are young and would not have played in such an atmosphere.

“Are the boys ready to perform in this cauldron of noise? It will be a challenge for them.”

But Singapore forward Muhaimin Suhaimi insists that the hostile atmosphere will not affect his team in their quest to get all three points against Myanmar.

“We have anticipated, and are prepared, for the kind of (hostile) reception from the home crowd,” he said.

“It will be an intense match, and we will be giving it our all as we want to start the qualifiers in a positive way.

“Our recent friendly win over India has lifted our morale. We are motivated and ready for this crucial game.”

Following Myanmar, Singapore will take on Australia on Friday, also in Yangon.

The Aussies, who play Brunei tonight, are the favourites to top the group and earn automatic qualification to the AFC Championship finals.

As all 10 group winners will be joined in the finals by the best-five runners-up, Sivaji says Singapore will have to avoid defeat against Myanmar to stand a realistic chance of advancing from the group stages.

“You don’t want to lose the first game, because then you’ll just be playing catch-up for the rest of the games,” he explained.

“The Australians look to be the strongest in the group and are likely to win it, while Brunei look to be the weakest.

“This leaves Singapore and Myanmar to battle it out for the runners-up spot. So it’ll be interesting to see what the two teams’ tactics will be in this game.”