Sliver of hope for Young Lions despite daunting Aussie task

SINGAPORE — The Young Lions’ hopes of qualifying for the 2018 Asian Football Confederation U-23 Championships may have taken a huge knock after their 0-2 loss to hosts Myanmar in their opening Group F match in Yangon on Wednesday. And things are not going to get any easier today when they take on group favourites Australia in their second game.

However, ex-Football Association of Singapore technical director PN Sivaji believes the Republic can avoid a mauling by the Australians — and even keep them at bay — by taking a leaf from how Brunei defended against them in their 0-2 loss on Wednesday.

The 65-year-old, now the technical director of Myanmar National League side Hanthawaddy United, watched both group qualifiers on Wednesday, and came away feeling unimpressed with the Aussies, despite their win — though he acknowledged that their players are clearly “one or two notches” above the Young Lions.

“What surprised me about Australia was that they couldn’t find the right solution to overcome a packed 11-man defence,” he told TODAY in a telephone interview. “It is always difficult playing against teams that pack numbers behind the ball. However, I had expected the Aussies to find a way. But no, they didn’t have players with the quality to take on Brunei’s defenders to create more goalscoring chances.

“The Bruneians are not big boys, so good-quality crosses can give them problems, but I didn’t see it happening from the Australians on Wednesday.

“Australia just couldn’t penetrate through the middle. They didn’t have a special player who could change the game or provide a spark.

“On the occasions crosses were sent in, I felt the quality was lacking and movement in the box could have been better. Australia could have reaped rewards if they had more players in and around the box to attack the crosses or pick up the second balls.

“Maybe Singapore can adopt a similar strategy to Brunei. But we need to have a plan when we break their attack or regain possession which the Bruneians appeared not to have. The only problem with playing so defensively is if you concede early, it becomes difficult and heads can go down.”

And given Singapore’s inability to create any meaningful scoring chances against Myanmar, conceding a goal against Australia would only make things more difficult for the Young Lions who need to avoid defeat to keep alive their slim hopes of qualification.

Sivaji continued: “Attacking wise, Ikhsan Fandi looked good with his movement and skill against Myanmar. He did trouble their back line and had a couple of shots on target.

“But he was left alone up front most of the time. He did not get enough support and his teammates couldn’t give him the type of ball that he wants.”

Interestingly, Sivaji reckons that Singapore have the ability to stun Australia if they pull off a soak-and-strike plan to perfection.

“To be honest, the Australians look as though they can be breached at the back if their opponents have a counter-attacking plan,” he said.

“So when Singapore win the ball, they have to play it forward quickly.

“They must counter-attack with purpose, send three or four players to support Ikhsan in attack and make sure they don’t leave themselves vulnerable at the back. If we can score a goal, it’ll be great for morale and then you never know what will happen.”

Sivaji believes it is crucial for the Young Lions to show the same fighting spirit they did against Myanmar.

“You can take good things from Singapore’s performance. It was gritty, the boys worked hard and it was a fiery match with hard tackles.

“If the boys adopt the same fighting attitude on Friday, don’t allow themselves to be intimidated or give up when the chips are down, then they will always have a fighting chance.”

“Singapore may even have the crowd with them as Australia dropping points may pave the way for Myanmar to top the group.”