Morale Booster Victory For Singapore U-23

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If Singapore wants to win the SEA Game gold this month, they will have to sharpen their finishing. This is probably the most complete squad Singapore ever gathered with players such as Safuwan Baharudin, Hafiz Abu Sujab, Hariss Harun, Shafiq Ghani, just to name a few. But Singapore could have won by a bigger margin if not because of the numerous wasted opportunities this late afternoon at Hougang Stadium.

The fund-raiser match in support for Typhoon Haiyan Relieve Efforts started with a one-minute silence. Whichafter, the game was opened. Both teams created plenty of goals-scoring opportunities with coach Aide Iskandar’s side dominating the play.

Within the first 10 minutes, there were exciting exchanges of plays in the game! Nazrul Nazari (no-23) connected well with Shakir Hamzah (no-2)’s cross to volley straight at Azkals’ custodian Nicholas O’Donnell (no-48), Hafiz Abu Sujad (no-8)’s close header missed the goal by inches, Safuwan Baharudin (no-21)’s out jumped the others but couldn’t keep his header low and Azkals’ Valentino Calvo (no-21) saw his weak header at goal floated out of play.

In order to enhance the attacking, coach Aide made a tactical change by bringing on Faris Ramli (no-11) at the half an hour mark. And that change proved to be vital as the speedy winger provided more options for the attacking.

The deadlock was finally broken in the 28th minute when Shafiq Ghani (no-26) sent a floating ball across Philippines’ goal finding Nazrul Nazari (no-23). Nazrul sent his shot to the back of the net at the near pole to give Singapore the well-deserved lead!

The youngest player on the pitch, Jose Elmer Porteria (no-4) nearly equalized for the visitors but Shakir was quick to block off his shot. On the other side of the pitch, Faris nearly double Singapore’s lead when he dribbled past 2 defenders and saw his shot went straight into Nicholas’ safe arms.

Second half was a one-sided story. Once lively Sahil recovered from an open goal miss of the season, he went on to assist and put his name on the score sheet. In the 52nd minute, Sahil assisted Shafiq to score from close range after some neat dribbling on the left flank. 3 minutes later, Singapore’s captain Hariss Harun (no-14) sent a long ball from deep to Sahil and the striker made no mistake by smashing the ball into the roof of the net to put Singapore 3-0 up!

Philippines’ morale was at its lowest especially after conceding the third goal. A scrappy defending from the Azkals at the penalty box presented Hafiz with the opportunity to make it 4-0 to Singapore in the 63rd minute. Just when we thought the game was going to end with this score, the two substitutes, Iqbal Hussain (no-27) and Madhu Mohana (no-6) scored a goal each deep in the injury time to make it 6-0 in total!

Philippines’ coach Leigh Manson did not try to hide his disappointment at the post-match conference. “We were handed a football lesson today. Although the result of this game will not matter, we do not want to be on the receiving end of such humiliation.” But when asked how was Singapore team, Leigh said, “Singapore was quick in restarting the game and was fast. However, they would have to sharpen their finishing to stand a chance of doing well in the SEA Game.”

While Singapore’s coach Aide acknowledged the lack of composure in front of the goal could be improved, he was extremely pleased with the overall team’s performance. “This is a good morale booster game but I have told the players not to be over confident. I have about another 7 more days and we will slowly fine tune and select our best team for the SEA Game,” said Aide.

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