Goal-shy S'pore go home Team leave their best game for last, but miss out on final target

Source

SEA Games football, Grp A

Singapore 2 Thailand 0

JAKARTA - They started the tournament toothless, reluctant to display any adventure.

Yesterday, though, the Singapore under-23 football team did just about everything asked of them, beating Thailand 2-0 in their final Group A encounter here at the SEA Games.

They were hoping for a favour from the hosts in their clash with Malaysia later in the evening, but Slobodan Pavkovic's men missed out on the semi-finals when the hosts lost to the defending champions 1-0.

Malaysia topped the group and advanced to the last four with Indonesia, while Singapore were left to rue what might have been.

Led by skipper Harris Harun, who was imperious at the heart of the defence, the Singapore players showed unity, purpose and a willingness to attack, and they duly hit the target of seven points from the four group games.

But they paid for a dire opening encounter when they seemed happy with a 0-0 draw with Malaysia on Monday.

Their profligacy in front of goal saw them beat whipping boys Cambodia 2-1.

The team were under pressure yesterday, but managed to pull off a win, although they also missed a hatful of chances late on.

It was a moot point anyway, after the result later, but walking into the conference room for his post-match comments, Pavkovic bore the look of an unhappy man.

"This is the best performance and best result of this competition, the boys showed character, great motivation and discipline ... but finishing is our biggest problem," he admitted.

The team did play well yesterday, but only after a slow start.

They got a huge boost when Gabriel Quak took advantage of a mix up in the Thai defence to slot home in what was effectively the last kick of the first-half.

Singapore's second goal came from a show of dogged determination mixed with a huge stroke of luck.

Substitute Safirul Sulaiman won the ball in midfield and sprinted past the static Thai defence, only to knock the ball too far ahead. The chance seemed lost, but he duly lunged and the ball somehow sailed over the shocked Ukrit Wongmeerna in the Thai goal.

Faris Ramli had one more chance in the dying minutes to score, but true to form, he wasted the opportunity.

In the end, Singapore finished third in the "Group of Death", missing out on a semi-final spot by two points.

"We were unlucky to be drawn in this group ... (despite that) we only had one game that was a problem, that was the 2-0 loss to Indonesia,"said Pavkovic.

"But we have to analyse what happened this season, the whole season, and not just what happened in this competition.

"Now is not the time to do it. We will do it when we get back home," he added.

Pavkovic, the technical director at the Football Association of Singapore, was possibly referring to issues like National Service and school commitments that plagued the team before the start of the tournament on Nov 7.

The target for the team was a spot in the final, but they will now return home.

Pavkovic looked for a silver lining, when he said: "To have this fighting spirit today, to have this winning mentality and team work, this is what we've been working for this season."



Tomorrow's semi-final line-up

Malaysia vs Myanmar, Vietnam vs Indonesia