Anguished Lions praised after dramatic defeat

Loss for words. Disappointment. Anger. That sums up how national captain Hariss Harun and the Lions feel after narrowly missing out on the AFF Suzuki Cup final.

Despite his experience, the 31-year-old with 107 caps was unable to describe the manner of the 4-2 Christmas Day extra-time defeat by Indonesia.

He told The Straits Times yesterday: "I am lost for words till now with how the game turned out. It was in our hands even though we were down to nine men. I genuinely thought it was going to end well.

"At the start of the tournament, nobody would have thought that we would be on the verge of a final and we would end it all like that. It's painful but we have to pick ourselves up and look forward."

Hariss and his teammates had every right to feel aggrieved.

The Lions saw a host of decisions go against them in front of 9,982 fans at the National Stadium.

Indonesia led 1-0 thanks to Ezra Walian's 11th-minute opener. In the 36th minute, Safuwan Baharudin was cautioned for a tackle on Witan Sulaeman. Replays showed that the defender had won the ball fairly.

It got worse after Safuwan received a second yellow card from the referee, Omani Qasim Matar Ali Al-Hatmi, for clashing with Rizky Ridho before a free kick was taken in first-half added time.

The hosts somehow managed to equalise from that set piece via Song Ui-young's first international goal. Irfan Fandi's 66th-minute dismissal was another blow, yet the Lions took the lead soon after when Shahdan Sulaiman scored with an exquisite free kick.

Goalkeeper Hassan Sunny made several top saves but in the 87th minute was helpless to prevent Pratama Arhan from making it 2-2 even though replays showed that the defender was offside.

Incredibly, Singapore had a chance to snatch the win two minutes later as Pratama brought down Shawal Anuar in the box. But Faris Ramli missed his penalty and in extra time, the Lions ran out of steam as substitutes Irfan Jaya and Egy Maulana scored.

Shahdan tried to remain positive after and said: "It was heartening to see the fans cheering for us. We cannot control the referee's decisions but... can continue the fight with whatever we have.

"We kept motivating each other on the pitch and despite the numerical disadvantage, we gave all our hearts and soul."

Their performance nevertheless was recognised by many, including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who described it as "an amazing effort" and noted although they lost, they "put up strong fight and showed tremendous spirit holding their own and putting up a solid defence despite the odds".

Singapore reached the last four for the first time since 2012 and Lions coach Tatsuma Yoshida also said there were signs of improvement after June's World Cup qualifiers, where the Lions lost all three matches, shipped 12 goals and scored none.

He said: "I'm proud of the team. Two years ago, we had good performances but yesterday was the best because everything has improved. Our tactical side is good and fighting spirit was at its highest.

"We learnt, the fans learnt that if we believe, we can achieve. We almost reached the final but we couldn't quite get there.

"We must always look at our performance and try to improve."