Saturday, December 08, 2007
Overall Report:the young lions manage to secure a place in the semi-finals of the SEA Games after drawing 1-1 with Malaysia. Singapore just needed a draw to make it through to the semis while Malaysia needed a win. Agu Casmir sealed Sg's late equaliser in the 80th minute after Malaysia took a shock lead in the 71st minute to see the young lions make it through to the next round. however, as runner-ups in Group B, Singapore is drawn to meet Thailand, the champions of Group A.
Quick Breakdown:in the first half, sg's play was scrappy as malaysia dominated the first half completely. on more than one occasion, sg found themselves wanting of malaysia's pacy players. sg found their defence ravaged, and Baihakki had to earn a yellow card just to prevent the malaysians from scoring. khairul amri, playing as lone striker, was subjected to a lot of shoving and tackles by the malaysian backline. a rash sweeping tackle by malaysian keeper on amri in the penalty box gifted sg a penalty. fazrul nawaz stepped up to convert it but his shot was weak and saved by the keeper. towards the end of the first half, play picked up and shahril ishak almost made it 1-0 with a belter, only to be saved by the malaysian keeper.
second half saw a more composed play by sg, and they kickstarted the second half with countless chances against the malaysians. ridhuan muhd wasted a hat-trick of chances, but never stopped trying to carve out chances. in the middle of the game, space was given to the malaysians and a rash tackle outside sg's penalty box awarded malaysia a lethal free-kick position. as expected, a lapse of concentration in the backline resulted in confusion among the defenders and keeper hassan sunny, and soon malaysia was 1-0 up. sg picked up play after that and started charging at malaysia's defence. agu casmir came on and managed to seal an equaliser in the 80th minute. a shahril alias throw-in was flicked back by baihakki khaizan and then nodded into malaysia's net by agu. nearing FT, khairul amri was chased time and again, and denied the chance to score time and again. the exhausted striker was soon replaced by rising football gem hariss harun. after that, 5 minutes of extra-time was given. malaysia rammed shots after shots, but this time around, sg worked as a unit and kept the mouth of their goalpost shut all the way till the whistle blew, signalling the end of the game, and history made by this batch of young lions.
In Relations To The Match:Vietnam beat Laos 2-1, ensuring that they top the table for Group B and thus will meet Group A runners-up Myanmar in the semi-finals. Singapore faces an uphill task against SEA giants and host nation Thailand. SEA Games semi-finals will take place next Tuesday.
Most Jarring Mistake:unlike versus Vietnam, the defence allowed malaysia to take countless oppourtunities with concentration lapses, lack of pace and reckless challenges.
Stand-outs:- Khairul Amri: this cili padi who was playing as lone striker upfront constantly terrorizes malaysia's defence. his tricky footwork had malaysian defenders fooled, but luck wasn't on his side as he was denied chances to score time and again. yet, he never stopped making shots, and crafting up beautiful chances for his team-mates to finish. a shame he couldn't score, but his hard work was fantastic and perhaps injected some life and entertainment into sg's game.
The Weak Links:- The Defence: outplayed, outwit, outran, out-everything by the malaysian players. shoddy and rash defending almost cost them a spot in the semis.
To Look Out For:- Khairul Amri : peaking in form and troubling malaysia the whole time. even when he doesn't score, he's dangerous.
- Hariss Harun : will he feature in the semis?
10:31 pm
