Lions sunk by penalty decisions: Avramovic and his men have nothing to show for a spirited performance

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Asian World Cupqualifiers, Group A

China 2 Singapore 1

SINGAPORE - He spoke about it the day before the game, at the time it appeared little more than a passing comment.

But Radojko Avramovic has clearly seen enough in international football to know just how important little decisions are in a game.

Aleksandar Duric played his heart out, Qiu Li showed flashes of brilliance and Lionel Lewis made an outstanding penalty save, but it was Lebanese referee Andre El Haddad who stole the spotlight last night, as the Lions fell 2-1 to China in the opening Group A match of Asia's third round of World Cup qualifiers.

Singapore coach Avramovic hoped the match officials would do a good job for both teams, he felt it was crucial for any team starting an important campaign.

How prophetic the Serb turned out to be. In a space of 10 minutes in the second half in Kunming last night, El Haddad offered not one, but two opportunities for the home side to get back in the game after a 33rd minute Duric goal silenced the partisan crowd at the Tuodong Stadium.

While the Singapore players argued with the referee for the first penalty in the 57th minute, Lewis did barge into Chen Tao and perhaps El Haddad was right, although it was marginal.

Lewis, who had only just come on for the injured Izwan Mahbud, made amends with a good save as China's newly-appointed Spanish coach Jose Camacho gesticulated wildly on the touchline.

It was the second penalty decision 12 minutes later that sent the Lions and their coach flying into a rage.

Shaiful Esah was harshly adjudged to have pulled on the shoulder of Yu Dabao and this time there was no mistake as Zheng Zhi slotted home to set China on the road to recovery.

El Haddad then followed up with another controversial decision when he denied the visitors a penalty just a minute later, after Duric was tripped by Li Weifeng.

Avramovic screamed and lashed out at the assistant referee and the fourth official, and was duly sent to the stands by El Haddad.

Seconds later, China went on to score the winner through Yu Hai.

The 61-year-old Singapore coach had calmed down at the post-match press conference, and said: "It was a good first half, the players did very well and we could have scored more. But in the second half they came back and then some things happened.

"I'd like to say a big thank you to the players who put in a big effort."

Pumped up for the game, Singapore's China-born Qiu Li could not contain himself at the end, remonstrating with El Haddad as his team-mates struggled to keep him away from the Lebanese official, and he eventually received a yellow card.

The Lions will return from Kunming today and their campaign continues on Tuesday when they host Iraq at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

Other group A result: Iraq 0 Jordan 2