Improving Lions urged to end 26-year winless streak against Vietnam in Asean C’ship s-final

SINGAPORE – When told by The Straits Times that Singapore have not beaten Vietnam in a senior international football match since the 1998 Tiger Cup final, Lions coach Tsutomu Ogura’s face lit up.

His charges will take on world No. 114 Vietnam in the first leg of their Asean Championship semi-final at Jalan Besar Stadium on Dec 26, before the away leg in Phu Tho’s Viet Tri Stadium on Dec 29.

As the away-goals rule does not apply in this tournament, if the 160th-ranked Lions are to qualify for a fifth Asean Championship final, they will likely have to end their 14-match winless streak against the Golden Star Warriors.

Instead of fear or apprehension, Ogura had the look of an expert decoder relishing the opportunity to crack another tough puzzle, as he smiled and remarked: “Twenty-six years, no win?”

The 58-year-old has tasted the joy of helping his former teams Tokyo Verdy and Yokohama F. Marinos end a 15-year wait to earn promotion to the top tier and win the J1 League respectively, and urged the Lions to create their own slice of history.

Ogura added: “It is very interesting, and for me, history is there to be changed and made.”

On paper, this encounter seems like a mismatch and no-contest.

Vietnam are perennial contenders and selected their best players for their 26-man squad, which includes newly naturalised Brazil-born striker Rafaelson, who notched two goals and two assists in the

5-0 win over Myanmar

on his international debut on Dec 21.

Meanwhile, Singapore are missing goalkeeper Hassan Sunny, who

retired from international football in August,

midfielders Jacob Mahler (injured) and Song Ui-young (family issue), defender Irfan Fandi and his brothers Ikhsan and Ilhan (not released by clubs).

But the Lions were also not expected to make the semi-finals and came through in Group A after unconvincing wins over Cambodia (2-1) and Timor-Leste (3-0), a valiant defeat by defending champions Thailand (4-2) and

a battling draw in Malaysia (0-0).

Ogura noted: “Our players believe in our football. One by one, game by game, they are making improvements. In some games, we were good in the first half. In others, we were good in the second half. But every game we are improving in some way.

“In our last match, we showed our fighting spirit. This is important, because concepts and game models are not enough. We need players to have that hunger and fight, to communicate and encourage one another. Only then are we a team.”

The team spirit extends to the 12th man, as all 5,375 home tickets for the first leg

were snapped up in about six hours during an on-site sale on Dec 22.

As football fever starts to rise again, the People’s Association is also organising “live” watch parties for both legs at 11 community clubs and centres at Our Tampines Hub, Heartbeat @ Bedok, One Punggol, Wisma Geylang Serai, Kaki Bukit CC, Keat Hong CC, Jurong Spring CC, Pek Kio CC, Radin Mas CC, Tampines West CC and Buangkok CC.

HomeTeamNS is doing the same at their clubhouses at JOM Balestier, Khatib and Bedok Reservoir.

With the 55,000-seater National Stadium unavailable beyond the group stage as it was booked for concerts during this period before the Asean Football Federation

made a late tweak to the tournament schedule,

the move to play on the artificial pitch at the 6,000-seater Jalan Besar Stadium could give the Lions an advantage.

With the exception of Selangor’s Safuwan Baharudin, the entire Singapore team have often played there in the ongoing Singapore Premier League season, with their 15 Lion City Sailors and BG Tampines Rovers players having experienced the highs of Asian Champions League Two nights at that venue.

The Lions are unbeaten in six matches at Jalan Besar since a 2-1 reverse by Chinese Taipei in June 2017. In December 2022, Vietnam were held to a goal-less draw at the same venue in the group stage.

On Dec 18, Vietnam also struggled against the Philippines on the astroturf of the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila as they required a 97th-minute equaliser from Doan Ngoc Tan for a 1-1 draw.

Vietnam had played three practice matches on artificial pitches in South Korea to prepare for this tournament, with their coach Kim Sang-sik saying he does not think it will be a “major problem”.

But their skipper Do Duy Manh and Ngoc Tan conceded that there is a fear of injury on the hard pitch that also makes the ball bounce high and harder to control.

While both sides have no players suspended, Vietnam’s key forward Nguyen Van Toan is out of the tournament after tearing his knee ligament in the win over Myanmar, but the Lions have a clean bill of health.

Ogura, who had given the team a day off on Dec 22 to be with their families after being apart for two weeks, needed a check-up at a hospital following extreme fatigue, a bad headache and a loss of appetite after returning from Malaysia.

The Japanese, who is feeling better, said: “The best situation for us is to go to the second leg with a win... Our players must be smart, focused and composed. This is difficult, but we have to make it a new normal.”