Lions show fight in 3-2 loss to Thais, but need more focus in Asian Cup qualifier with Hong Kong

SINGAPORE – The good news for the 155th-ranked Lions ahead of their winners-take-all Asian Cup qualifier in Hong Kong on Nov 18 is that they are not afraid to take the game to higher-ranked opponents, can create chances and have the quality to finish them off.

That much was apparent in the 3-2 defeat by world No. 96 Thailand on Nov 13 at the Thammasat Stadium in Pathum Thani, where Singapore put on a courageous showing in front of about 10,000 partisan home fans.

Coach Gavin Lee made four changes from

the starting XI that won 2-1 in India

in October, as Ryhan Stewart and Shah Shahiran returned from suspension to replace right-back Irfan Najeeb and midfielder Song Ui-young, while Akram Azman and Ilhan Fandi were preferred ahead of left-back Amirul Adli and forward Ikhsan Fandi.

They showed good spirit to equalise after being 1-0 down and made it a respectable scoreline after trailing 3-1, even though they could not prevent a 10th consecutive loss against South-east Asia’s top-ranked side, who were playing their first game under new coach Anthony Hudson.

The bad news is, Lee’s Lions have not kept a clean sheet in their last six matches and still look prone to lapses of concentration.

The hosts took just 15 minutes to open the scoring when Kevin Deeromram’s cross was cleared only as far as an unmarked Sarach Yooyen, who took the loose ball on the chest before volleying it in off the bar from the edge of the box.

The visitors responded well to level just two minutes later when left-back Akram, earning only his third cap, played a fine deep cross which Stewart squared first-time for Glenn Kweh to equalise with his first international goal on his 27th cap.

But the Lions did not learn their lesson and conceded just two minutes into the second half, as Theerathon Bunmathan played a quick give-and-go with skipper Chanathip Songkrasin before firing in a left-footer between Shawal Anuar and Kyoga Nakamura which crept inside Izwan Mahbud’s near post.

Thailand then doubled their advantage six minutes later when Harhys Stewart gave the ball away to Sarach, who passed it to substitute Seksan Ratree to arrow his shot into the top corner.

Encouragingly, the Lions had enough depth on the bench to threaten a comeback, as Song and Ikhsan came on for Akram and Ilhan in the 61st minute.

Just a minute later, Ikhsan made a key contribution when he ran on to Harhys’ cross and instinctively pulled off an attempt on goal with his trailing leg, which Patiwat Khammai could only parry to Kweh to complete his brace.

Ikhsan then headed over from Song’s free-kick in the 82nd minute, before 21-year-old Grimsby Town striker Jude Soonsup-Bell missed a late penalty on his international debut after Shah was harshly deemed to have fouled the England-born Thai in the box.

Post-match, Lee said: “I thought in the first half we were quite good, and many things were very positive. Unfortunately, we didn’t start the second half the way we ended the first half.

“That’s shameful of us to concede two goals in the first seven minutes of the second half. It’s not the way to start a football game, but this is a good reminder and good preparation for our next match against Hong Kong.”

Kweh added: “I’m very happy to be able to contribute to the team, even though we did not win this game, and it’s not the result we wanted. But there’s still a lot of positives we can take from this game as our focus shifts to the next game against Hong Kong.

“There were moments in the game where we showed we have the ability to play our football, and we will go back to training tomorrow and work on what we can do against Hong Kong.”

Meanwhile at the Hong Kong Stadium, 148th-ranked Hong Kong were held to a 1-1 draw by world No. 179 Cambodia in another international friendly.

Hong Kong are top of Group C in the third round of the Asian Cup qualifiers with eight points from four games, the same tally as Singapore who trail only by goals scored, while Bangladesh and India are out of the reckoning.

Only the top team from each of the six groups will join 18 other sides who have qualified for the tournament proper in Saudi Arabia in 2027.

With competition regulations stating that the head-to-head record will serve as the first tiebreak criterion for teams level on points, the winners of the Hong Kong-Singapore match will earn their Asian Cup ticket.

If this game ends in a draw, qualification will go down to the last round of qualifiers on March 31, 2026 when Singapore host Bangladesh and Hong Kong play in India.