DISJOINTED EARLIER, Singapore players Baihakki Khaizan (left), Ismail Yunus and Khairul Amri are united in celebrating Agu Casmir's equaliser against Malaysia. -- PHOTO: BERITA HARIAN

The stylishly-haired Singapore substitute, castigated for his poor performance in last week's 0-0 draw with Laos, powered home the 80th-minute equaliser in Singapore's final South-east Asia Games Group B clash against Malaysia.

It is uncanny the powerful effect a single goal can have, for his header did more than merely cancel out Mohammad Amirul Hadi's opener for the 2005 bronze medallists 10 minutes earlier.

His goal allowed Fazrul Nawaz to breathe freely again, for as time counted down and Malaysia led 1-0, the Singapore striker must have been rueing his penalty miss in the 37th minute.

Most importantly, Casmir's goal gave Singapore the vital point they needed to qualify for the semi-finals for the first time in four attempts.

Vietnam finished top of the group after a 2-1 victory over Laos, which means second-placed Singapore now face a mouth-watering semi-final against seven-time defending champions Thailand on Tuesday.

For the Malaysians, who required a win to go through, a flight home beckoned.

But Malaysian coach Baskaran Sathianathan was impressively gracious in defeat.

'I did my best and the boys did their best, but our best was not good enough for a place in the semi-finals,' he said.

Vietnam will play Myanmar in the other semi-final.

The Singaporeans, understandably, were reluctant to think ahead to Tuesday's match, preferring to bask in the elation of their feat yesterday.

This is the first time they have progressed to the last four since the football event was changed to an Under-23 format in 2001.

After the final whistle, some collapsed to the Suranaree University of Technology pitch, partly because of exhaustion, but more in relief and jubilation.

Others hugged, and danced in delight. Making history of any sort is always intoxicating.

Said Casmir, who was finally smiling after a week of keeping to himself: 'I'm just so happy.

'But it was a team effort that got us through, not just my goal.'

The striker had replaced holding midfielder Tengku Mushadad in the 76th minute, in coach Raddy Avramovic's final throw of the dice.

Minutes earlier, slack defending off a free kick had allowed Amirul to sneak into the penalty box unmarked and power a header past goalkeeper Hassan Sunny.

Till then, the Malaysians had looked a disjointed outfit and were unable to make the final pass to strikers Mohammad Safee and Norshahrul Idlan.

But their wingers caused havoc for Singapore full-backs Shahril Alias and Shaiful Esah, the latter repeatedly beaten for pace by the speedy Amirul.

Suddenly, Singapore needed a goal, and fast.

Already they had let slip an opportunity to take the lead, when goalkeeper Syed Adney conceded a penalty after an ugly challenge on Khairul Amri.

But Fazrul kicked feebly, and Adney guessed correctly and dived to his right, and the chance was gone.

But when Casmir's opportunity arrived, he made no mistake, calmly scoring from a metre out off Ridhuan's flick-on from Ismail Yunos' long-throw.

While acknowledging they could have been better, Ridhuan said: 'But we're through and that's what counts.

'It's great, all of us were saying this was our last chance to get into the semi-finals and now we've done it.'

Amri, Ridhuan, Baihakki Khaizan and Shahril Ishak were all in the 2005 squad that exited in the preliminary stages in the Philippines.

All will be over-aged by the 2009 Games.

Skipper Baihakki was the last to emerge from the dressing room, and wore a poker face before bursting into laughter: 'It just feels great.

'All the four years of nightmares are now gone. This is a hurdle we've all crossed together.

'When I look back after I retire, I can say my team went through to the semis.'

But it was a bittersweet moment for the defender, who will sit out the game against Thailand after receiving his second yellow card of the competition.

He was cautioned in the 13th minute for a tug on Safee.

Said the 23-year-old Baihakki: 'But there's quality in the team, I'm confident my replacement, and the rest, will do the job.'

limze@sph.com.sg