Tokyo Verdy beat BG Pathum to clinch Lion City Cup; JDT third after thrashing S’pore U-16

SINGAPORE – Showing their class for a second consecutive match, Japanese side Tokyo Verdy came from behind to defeat holders BG Pathum United 4-1 to clinch the Lion City Cup on Oct 6.

Verdy, who had thrashed Malaysia’s Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) 8-2 in the semi-finals two days earlier, did not panic even though the Thai side, who were sitting back to soak up the pressure, had broken the deadlock against the run of play in the 49th minute through Teerapad Sinudomwongsa.

But the Japanese side equalised just eight minutes later through Daisuke Chiba, before Taiki Nakayama, Shin Kusama and Reo Hirose helped Verdy claim a comeback victory at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

The Singapore Under-16s, meanwhile, lost their second straight match of the tournament, going down 5-1 to JDT in the earlier third-place play-off, two days after losing 1-0 to Pathum.

Before a crowd of 920, the Malaysian side scored through a brace from Fadhlul Hadi and goals from Fahmi Nor Farizamal, Nur Hakim Irwan and Arayyan Hakeem, while the Cubs replied through a Luth Harith Fathi penalty.

Cubs coach Angel Toledano said he will be analysing his players’ performances ahead of their Asian Football Confederation U-17 Asian Cup qualifying campaign at the Bishan Stadium from Oct 23 to 27.

The Singapore U-16 side will have their work cut out as they face Oman, Tajikistan and Guam in Group J. Only the winners and the five best runners-up from the 10 groups will join hosts Saudi Arabia in the 2025 Finals.

Toledano said his boys will undergo centralised training for the next two weeks, in which they will meet Malaysia’s U-16 and Albirex Niigata’s U-21 teams in friendlies.

The Spaniard, who omitted Nathan Mao – scorer of two goals in the 2023 edition – and Kieran Tan for this quadrangular, said he will be selecting their best squad for the continental qualifiers.

“We are not going to balance the teams, we will put the best players in every position to compete,” he said. “This tournament has been good for us to see the performance of all the players under pressure.”

Pressure was also on Verdy when they found themselves trailing. But the players stayed calm.

Verdy coach Chosun Futemma said they did not expect Pathum to open accounts as a free kick by Pathipan Soisuwan found Teerapad, who headed over Verdy goalkeeper Ryota Hayashi.

Futemma said: “But the players know what they have to do. They fought hard and I’m thankful for them.”

A free kick from Zen Momma just eight minutes later found substitute Chiba, who headed in the equaliser with his first touch.

Just two minutes later, Verdy seized the lead as Nakayama capitalised on Pathum’s failure to clear a loose ball and steered his shot into the bottom corner.

Kusama made it 3-1 for Verdy in the 90th minute after a one-two, with Hirose adding the icing on the cake a minute later as his shot was spilled by Pranchawich Bunyaritthikran for Verdy to claim the trophy.

Pathum coach Chatree Chimtale hopes his boys will gain from the experience. He said via a translator: “Our target today was to focus on the defensive game and then trying to (hit them) on the counter-attack. When they got the equaliser, the boys kind of lost focus a little bit. They are young, so this is the part that they have to develop when they grow up.

“When you play more attacking football, the back lines open, so they fight until the end and that’s what matters.”