Lion-hearted Singapore ‘much better’ in Hong Kong draw, says coach

SINGAPORE – The Singapore football team will feel hard done by after a Lion-hearted performance – and putting the ball in the net twice – only to come away with just a point from the 0-0 draw with Hong Kong in their Asian Cup third-round qualifiers Group C opener on March 25.

Defender Lionel Tan, who scored at both ends the last time both teams drew 1-1 in Hong Kong, raised the National Stadium roof when he turned in a Shah Shahiran corner in the second minute, but the referee ruled it out for a foul on goalkeeper Yapp Hung Fai.

In the 78th minute, Shawal Anuar latched on to a Kyoga Nakamura through ball to dink past Yapp, only for the scorer to be deemed marginally offside.

With their 155th-ranked opponents running down the clock towards the end, Singapore will feel like they dropped two points ahead of their next game against No. 185 Bangladesh in Dhaka on June 10.

The other game in Shillong also saw a goal-less draw between hosts and world No. 126 India and Bangladesh. Only the group winners will progress to the continental showpiece in Saudi Arabia in 2027.

After seeing his team fire blanks for the fourth time in their last five games, national coach Tsutomu Ogura said: “Compared to our last game, we were much better, but we missed two points.

“We showed we have improved with our football before we reach the penalty box, but we must improve more inside the box and score.

“The clubs can help, but we also need to provide the players better individual and group training in the national team. The responsibility is on me – if they continue to not score, that means my education is not good.”

Skipper Hariss Harun added: “It’s a bit of a mixed feeling for us. We rectified a few things, so the boys were feeling a lot more belief.

“It was a better performance but it’s not enough because only the top team go through to the Asian Cup, so every point counts. We didn’t convert our chances so it’s something we have to improve on.

“We have to be a bit more front-footed and positive, we can be sharper and a bit more ruthless in taking our chances.”

Against the second highest-ranked team in the group, Ogura made five changes to the world No. 160 team who started in the insipid 1-0 friendly loss to Nepal on March 21, and it almost paid immediate dividends.

With the early chance in front of 8,064 fans, the hosts looked up for the challenge as they managed to keep possession well and often pressed hard to win back the ball when they lost it.

The quality of crosses and penetrative play from wide positions were also much improved from their previous game.

Glenn Kweh and Hami Syahin, recalled to the first XI, combined nicely in the 15th minute to set up Shawal Anuar, who also did not play against Nepal, to fire over.

Ten minutes later, Harhys Stewart’s cross from the right found Kweh, whose shot was blocked by Yapp, before his follow-up hit Oliver Gerbig.

It was generally a far more dogged display as centre-backs Safuwan Baharudin and Tan helmed the defence well and made Hong Kong look like a pale shadow of the team on a record seven-match winning streak.

The visitors managed to test Izwan Mahbud from a corner, when Matt Orr shot straight at the goalkeeper.

The entertaining match went end to end on the hour mark and even spilt over to the sidelines.

There were suspicions of handball when Juninho’s shot came off Safuwan’s chest with the defender’s arm flailing, and Hong Kong coach Ashley Westwood raced down the length of the field to remonstrate with the assistant referee.

He earned a yellow card for his troubles.

Orr then turned the resulting corner onto the bar, before Izwan launched a counterattack with a long goal kick that found Kweh and ended with Nakamura shooting just wide.

Ogura’s last throw of the dice saw Ilhan Fandi and Faris Ramli come on for Shawal and Stewart respectively in the 81st minute, but the late winner never materialised as their winless run against Hong Kong – since a 2-0 win in 2012 – extended to seven games.

Quizzed about the late change, he said: “Maybe we could have brought them on five minutes earlier, but I made the decision to do so with 10 minutes left. If we had scored, you would say it is a good choice, but we didn’t score, so you can say it is late.

“I’m never fully satisfied. Over the past year, the players have improved in some areas, like in their build-up, and changing systems and positions automatically. But we still must improve more if we want to reach the Asian Cup.”

Englishman Westwood said: “We expected a reaction from Singapore after their loss to Nepal. There was always going to be changes, a lift in desire and aggression.

“We know their strengths and weaknesses, so we weren’t surprised by them. What we weren’t prepared for was our slow and sloppy start, which we don’t normally do.

“After galvanising ourselves at half-time, we dug in well and kept this clean sheet. We could have won the game if we had a little bit of fortune; we could have lost if they had a bit of fortune...

“They played better tonight than the previous night, and we are going away with a draw, which I think is fair.”