S’pore get the boost they need

SINGAPORE — If Bernd Stange was looking for a strong confidence boost for his squad ahead of the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup, then he certainly got it.

In their final warm-up match before they begin the defence of their AFF Suzuki Cup crown, Singapore overcame Cambodia 4-2 in a largely open encounter at the Yishun Stadium last night. Goals from Khairul Amri after nine minutes, Faris Ramli (28th), Shahril Ishak (33rd) and Safuwan Baharudin (37th) cancelled out a brace from Khoun Laburavy (25th, 29th).

But it was not the result, but the manner in which Singapore — which is co-hosting the AFF Suzuki Cup with Vietnam — played that gave Stange cause for optimism ahead of their opening Group B match against Thailand this Sunday at the National Stadium.

“Two wins in a row, including the 2-0 win over Laos on Thursday, has given the team a lot of confidence,” said Stange. “It’s a nice way to wrap up our friendly matches before the tournament begins. Now we can look forward to the tournament. It was also the six goals the fans came for and S$5 for the ticket admission is worth it.”

After their opening match against Thailand this Sunday, the Lions face Myanmar — now coached by former Singapore coach Radojko Avramovic — three days later, before a potentially fiery encounter against arch-rivals Malaysia on Nov 29 in their final Group B match.

After seeing his players lose 4-2 last night, Cambodia coach Lee Tae Hoon believes it will be difficult for other teams to wrest the title from record four-time winners Singapore, but Stange is under no illusions at the potentially tricky task at hand as he enters his first AFF Suzuki Cup as Singapore coach.

Only the top two sides from each of the two groups will advance into the semi-finals and Stange knows there is little margin for error when the tournament gets under way.

Despite the generally encouraging performance yesterday, Stange was concerned at the way his side let in two quick-fire goals in the first-half against the Cambodians, who failed to qualify for the tournament.

The German is aware that Singapore’s Group B opponents at the AFF Suzuki Cup — Myanmar and former winners Thailand and Malaysia — will provide a far stiffer test than Cambodia.

“We left gaps in the middle that allowed Cambodia to score the two goals. But then again, the heavy pitch made it difficult for us to control the ball and find our footing. We have to work on it and we will be ready for the tournament,” he said.

“For now, we are doing fine and by the time the tournament kicks off, we will get all our players back from injury, such as goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud, who has a sprained ankle, and Shakir Hamzah, who has a thigh strain. We will continue to work on our passing game, the way that football should be played.”

TV timings: Singapore’s AFF Suzuki Cup matches against Thailand on Nov 23, Myanmar (Nov 26) and Malaysia (Nov 29) will be shown “live” on MediaCorp Okto at 7.55pm.