AFF Championship: Singapore take on Malaysia
The Straits Times’ David Lee looks at the match-ups ahead of the Lions’ crucial AFF Championship Group B match against the Tigers on Tuesday
DOMINIC TAN, 25 (13 caps, 0 goals) v SHAWAL ANUAR, 31 (24 caps, 6 goals)
Born in Singapore to Malaysian parents, Tan could well have been lining up alongside his Singapore Sports School batchmate Irfan Fandi in the Lions’ defence.
But the 1.83m centre back, who has played in Malaysia, Portugal and Thailand, chose the Tigers instead and will aim to use his strength and technical ability to shut out the Republic. Malaysia have kept clean sheets in eight of his 13 appearances.
As Singapore’s strikeforce dwindles by the week, Shawal is one of three recognised forwards left after Ikhsan and Ilhan Fandi suffered serious injuries. The nippy and street-smart attacker is in superb form, scoring in four of his last five appearances, in which the Lions were unbeaten.
MUKHAIRI AJMAL, 21 (6 caps, 0 goals) v SHAH SHAHIRAN, 23 (11 caps, 1 goal)
Both sides’ future midfield stars have come to the fore at this tournament. The stout but pacy Mukhairi has strong game awareness and also does the dirty work of closing down opponents to regain possession.
Shah, on the other hand, is more waifish but equally tenacious and also reads the game well on top of being a good passer. Against Myanmar, he showed that he is not shy to shoot from range – a quality the Lions have lacked recently – as he scored in the 3-2 win.
SAFAWI RASID, 25 (46 caps, 18 goals) v CHRISTOPHER VAN HUIZEN, 30 (12 caps, 0 goals)
Safawi, an inverted winger, typically plays on the right and cuts in to wreak havoc with his left foot. And while last edition’s joint-top scorer (four goals) is on a barren run of seven games – his longest international goal drought – he still contributed three assists in this period.
Van Huizen, who plays as a left wingback, will have to be careful not to leave gaps while going forward to augment the Lions attack. Despite coming back from six years in the international wilderness, he has been in great form in this tournament, producing one assist and several crucial tackles.
However, he must avoid giving away free-kicks as Safawi is a strong set-piece exponent who can explode into life even if Malaysia have not scored from one in their last three games.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
