SINGAPORE – Against a team ranked 86 rungs above them, the Lionesses knew they were in for a tough battle against world No. 49 Papua New Guinea at the FAS Tri-Nations Series 2022 (Women's) yesterday.
And that was what they got at the Jalan Besar Stadium, with the Singapore national women’s team putting up a creditable effort against the visitors to wrap up the triangular friendly tournament with a 1-0 loss.
Despite the defeat, coach Stephen Ng was proud of the performance his charges produced in front of 2,344 fans.
He said: “As a whole I’m pleased with the effort put up by our players. We gave a very good fight today despite the difference in Fifa rankings.
“The important thing was that we showed we can compete at this level as we are still improving. It’s an ongoing process that we will work on and hopefully, we can improve even more as we go into the SEA Games.”
The tournament, which also featured Seychelles, was part of Singapore's preparations for the May 12-23 SEA Games in Hanoi.
In the lead-up to the Games, the Lionesses will also be going on a training tour in Thailand.
Singapore will be making their first appearance at the regional competition since 2003 and will play world No. 43 Thailand, 2019 SEA Games bronze medallists Myanmar and Laos in Group B.
They will hope to put the lessons from the Tri-Nations Series to good use. Yesterday, their defence had a busy evening as Papua New Guinea poured forward in the first half, but the Lionesses managed to soak up the attacks and keep them at bay.
A switch in formation gave the hosts added bite up front as Putri Nur Syaliza Sazali shifted to the left wing.
Forward Stephanie Dominguez also moved into a more central role, allowing Singapore to create several chances as they ventured more into the Papuans’ half.
But the visitors were not to be denied, as they finally broke the deadlock in the 74th minute.
Defender Lavina Hola whipped in a cross from the right for Sonia Emhabe to bundle the ball past Singapore goalkeeper Noor Kusumawati.
The hosts came close to equalising in the 83rd minute when Danelle Tan punted a long ball to substitute Ho Hui Xin, whose effort went just wide.
While Ng was happy with the progress that the team have made, he admitted that there are still aspects of their game that have to be refined.
He said: “I’ve always emphasised on speed of play and, in order to do that, you need the physical preparation in terms of strength and endurance. At the same time, the technical abilities also play a big part so these are areas we need to brush up on to have a better speed of play.”
Midfielder Nur Farhanah Ruhaizat lauded her teammates for the desire they showed against Papua New Guinea and their progress in the last few months.
She said: “As compared to before Covid and now, I feel the team is so much more united as we managed to go together as one and (execute) the plan that coach has come up with in training, it really shows a lot about our efforts as a team.”
Papua New Guinea coach Nicola Demaine was happy with how her charges managed to improve in certain aspects of their game from their 9-0 win over Seychelles last Friday.
She said: “It was such a good challenge from Singapore that we’ve had some things that were highlighted and that we need to work on, but obviously we’re happy to get the win.”
Player of the Match Marie Kaipu noted how it had been hard to get past the Singapore defence and was proud of how her team performed in their first international outing since 2019.
She said: “The Singapore team are strong. In 2014, when Papua New Guinea came to Singapore, they played very well, but now we had a hard time scoring. It’s a good opportunity for us to come here and this will help us prepare (for future competitions).”
