Uphill battle for S'pore's Olympic team

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It was an opportunity missed but no point crying over spilt milk.

That is how Singapore will approach the second-leg of their opening round Olympic qualifier against Yemen at the Al-Ain's Sheikh Khalifa Stadium in the United Arab Emirates tonight (11.45pm, Singapore time) after they lost 2-0 in the first leg on Saturday.

"We have to try (for a win). We'll attack from the first whistle, like in our first game," national coach Radojko Avramovic told MediaCorp in a phone interview from Al-Ain yesterday.

Captain Hariss Harun added: "We brought this pressure on ourselves, so we must face it. At this level, we'll face it anyway. It's about handling the pressure."

Both Avramovic and his skipper Hariss felt the team were unlucky, after dominating much of the first leg at the Sheikh Khalifa Stadium.

While he did acknowledge Yemen's physical strength and greater experience, Singapore's Serbian coach said: "We dominated the match, we tried to attack and win. ... But there was some lack of concentration and we gave away easy goals. We tried very hard and could have been more successful if we were cooler and made decisions faster."

Yemen won through strikes either side of half-time, with goals by Salleh (38th min) and Al Khader (51st min).

Midfielder Izzdin Shafiq is out with an ankle injury, but otherwise, Avramovic has a full-strength squad to choose from, crucial as the 20-man outfit face a 48-hour turnaround from the first game.

The under-23 fixture was originally scheduled for Feb 23 in the Yemeni capital Sana'a, with the return leg in Singapore on March 9.

But the ongoing political instability in Yemen forced the tie to be postponed twice, before FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation decided both legs would have to be played on neutral territory.

"Of course, it isn't ideal, but we'll deal with it," said Hariss. "We're trying to stay positive, because you don't want to affect others with a poor mood."

Avramovic added: "We have to see how we cope playing two games with just a day's rest. But luckily, conditions here are perfect for football."