SINGAPORE – Despite seeing his team drawn into the Group of Death for the SEA Games men’s football tournament in Group B alongside defending champions Vietnam, 16-time winners Thailand, Malaysia and Laos, Singapore Under-22 coach Philippe Aw is confident his team “won’t be pushovers”.

Group A consists of hosts Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Timor-Leste. The competition kicks off on April 29 and the fixtures will be announced later.

After finishing last in the Under-22 invitational Merlion Cup in March, Aw had admitted Singapore teams have been struggling in age-group competitions and expectations of making it to the SEA Games semi-finals have to be managed.

At the postponed Hanoi Games in 2022, Singapore were held to a 2-2 draw by minnows Laos and thumped 5-0 by Thailand, before they edged Cambodia 1-0 and drew 2-2 with six-time winners Malaysia in the under-22 competition.

The Young Lions last earned a SEA Games medal when they took bronze in Myanmar in 2013.

After the draw, Aw said: “It is a very strong group but I have belief we won’t be pushovers and the boys will fight.

“The players now know what is expected of them at the international level and I know they will make it tough for our opponents. My coaches and I will be analysing our opponents so that we will be prepared come end of April.”

Skipper Harhys Stewart added: “The onus is on us players to do Singapore proud, regardless of the group we are drawn in. We can all draw motivation from playing such opponents and we will be determined to do our absolute best for Singapore.”

In the women’s tournament, a senior competition, the 134th-ranked Lionesses have a fighting chance of making it to the semi-finals after they drew hosts Cambodia (119th), five-time champions Thailand (44th) and Laos (84th) in Group B.

Group A comprises defending champions Vietnam, the Philippines, Myanmar, Malaysia and Indonesia.

At the previous SEA Games, Singapore lost 3-0 to Thailand, beat Laos 1-0 and lost to Myanmar 1-0 to finish third in their group.

However, that was their first outing at the biennial event since 2003 and only their fifth appearance, as they marked their return with a first win at the Games since 1985. Then, they beat the Philippines 2-0 in Bangkok en route to a silver medal.

Lionesses coach Karim Bencherifa said: “We will be facing quality opponents and we know that we will need to work hard to improve in all aspects of our game.

“Judging from their performances in the Olympic qualifiers, my team are capable of being tough opposition when they work as one and carry out the game plan.”

His team took part in the Women’s Olympic 2024 Asian Qualifiers in Chonburi in the past week, losing 6-0 to Thailand last Saturday, before drawing 2-2 with world No. 128 Mongolia on Tuesday.

National defender Ernie Sulastri believes the experience in Thailand will help the team ahead of the SEA Games. She said: “The Olympic qualifiers helped the team familiarise easily with coach Karim’s style. He puts the interests of the team first while setting realistic objectives that we as a team can meet in due time.

“Playing with higher-ranked opponents has helped the team assess where we stand in terms of our physical fitness and tactical skills. We also can learn how to stay cool under pressure, which is especially useful seeing the teams we will meet at the SEA Games.”

The games were Bencherifa’s first international matches since he took charge of the Lionesses in early March and he believes they took away valuable lessons from the campaign.

The Moroccan added: “We dealt with two teams who differ in terms of technical skills and physical strength to name a few.

“While I admit the results were not what we expected, we know where we stand as a team, and we want to change that and progress.”