Vietnam 0
Singapore 0

HANOI: Lucky is a word he rarely, if ever, uses. But, after seeing his team escape with an unlikely draw from Hanoi, Singapore coach Raddy Avramovic had no choice but to utter it.

In what he called the Lions' 'worst performance' in the Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup campaign, Avramovic did not mince his words after Singapore's 0-0 draw against Vietnam in the first leg semi-final at the My Dinh Stadium last night.

Although the draw, plus the fact that away goals are not counted in the knock-out stage of the tournament, is a fair result to take back to Kallang for the return match on Sunday, the Serb was still unhappy.

In a match dominated by Vietnam, who were buoyed by a passionate home crowd of 40,000, defending champions Singapore endured sustained spells of pressure.

Only the safe hands of Lionel Lewis and some timely interceptions by the back-four prevented Vietnam coach Henrique Calisto's men from grinding out a win.

Having done his homework and fielding two holding midfielders in Isa Halim and Mustafic Fahrudin to neutralise the fast-raiding Vietnamese, Avramovic was appalled to see his charges penned in their own half for long periods.

The Serb said: 'We were lucky, especially in the first half. Vietnam played exactly the way we expected, but Singapore did not try to play.

'Nobody moved. The players were not supporting each other. They simply cannot play like that.'

Singapore's settled 4-4-2 system also received a jolt before the game when John Wilkinson was ruled out with a pulled calf muscle and central attacking midfielder Shi Jiayi had to be deployed to the flank.

With no creative spark, botched set-pieces and the midfield unable to repel the overlapping Vietnamese flank players, the Lions were fortunate to escape unscathed.

Wilkinson's absence was felt by Avramovic, who said: 'John can help control the midfield as he is a good passer and can support the strikers. That creativity was missing against Vietnam.'

Striker Noh Alam Shah added: 'I agree that it was a poor show. The team are determined to put up a better performance before our home fans in the return leg.'

Singapore could have stolen a win in the 74th minute when defender Le Phuoc Tu headed Mustafic Fahrudin's cross into his own net after he was put under pressure by Alam Shah.

However, Malaysian referee R. Krishnan ruled out the goal as his assistant had flagged Alam Shah for offside.

Avramovic felt the strike should have stood, saying: 'It was a goal. How could Alam Shah be offside if it was a Vietnamese who put the ball into his own net?'

Still, every cloud has a silver lining. For the draw protected the Lions' 19-match unbeaten run in the tournament, a sequence that saw Singapore lift the last two regional titles in 2005 and 2007.

Centre-back Baihakki Khaizan said: 'Every one can see how determined Vietnam were. They just kept coming at us, so holding out for a draw and taking a clean sheet home is a good result.'

The significance of not converting the team's superior possession into goals has also dawned on coach Calisto, who said: 'Now, Singapore have a good chance of winning at home.

'But Vietnam must continue to believe in themselves.'

meng@sph.com.sg

Singapore line-up (4-4-2)

Lionel Lewis, Noh Rahman, Precious Emuejeraye, Baihakki Khaizan, Daniel Bennett, Muhammad Ridhuan (Ismail Yunos, 85th min), Mustafic Fahrudin, Isa Halim, Shi Jiayi (Juma'at Jantan, 89th), Agu Casmir, Indra Sahdan Daud (Noh Alam Shah, 54th).