Singapore hopes for draw between Philippines, Indonesia

AFF Suzuki Cup match between Thailand and Singapore. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

BOCAUE – With only a match remaining in its schedule, Singapore is pinning its hopes for a draw in the duel between Philippines and Indonesia.

“We’re hoping for a more favorable result for us to give us a chance to advance to the next round,” said coach V. Sundramoorthy.

The Lions squandered a golden opportunity to force a stalemate against the defending champions when they fell to Thailand, 1-0, Tuesday at Philippine Sports Stadium here.

A late header from Sarawut Masuk at the 89th minute doomed Singapore as it found itself with only a solitary point at the end of the second matchday.

“Basically, we almost protected the important point. We’re just a minute and a half away snatching a draw against Thailand, but that’s football,” the coach said.

Dominating the possessions with Singapore holding the ball for 38-percent of the match, Soondramoorthy said that his team did all its best on defense and opted to play as counter-attackers.

Chances were scarce for the Lions as they only had six attempts, and only two were shots on goal. But there still were opportunities in the final 10 minutes, with Khairul Amri and Juma’at Jantan missing on their shots in the end.

Soondramoorthy thinks that one of those could have squeaked by and found the back of the net.

“We should have scored with the breaks. You want to give your team a chance and it could have been a different game, but I’m very proud of the boys.”

Singapore now prepares for its Friday tiff against Indonesia at Rizal Memorial Stadium.

“We need to move on. We can’t change anything anymore,” he said. “We have to prepare ourselves for Indonesia. We still have a chance.”

Indonesia and the Philippines are playing as of press time.