Glenn’s the man as Singapore secure win over Philippines
Forward scores again as Young Lions keep their Asian Cup qualifying hopes alive
Glenn Kweh's stunner proved the decider as the Singapore Under-22s survived a penalty scare to beat their Filipino counterparts 1-0 and keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the U-23 Asian Cup last night.
In the 51st minute, the 21-year-old glided between two defenders, cut inside another, before unleashing a lovely left-footed bender that went in off the post at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
| PHILIPPINES | SINGAPORE |
| 0 | 1 |
| (Glenn Kweh 51) |
The victory and the 2-2 draw against Timor-Leste on Monday mean the Young Lions have four points from two games and sit second in Group H behind South Korea, who have six points from two wins after beating Timor-Leste 6-0 earlier in the day.
Singapore will play the Koreans on Sunday. Only the top teams and four best runners-up from the 11 groups will make it to the tournament proper in Uzbekistan next year.
Even though they will be up against the defending champions next, Young Lions coach Nazri Nasir said: "It will be tough but anything can happen and we will go for the win."
Last night, his men were an improved side from the one who dropped two points against a 10-man Timor-Leste.
They defended stoutly and created a raft of chances against a Philippine side that had called up numerous European-born and foreign-based players for a two-week centralised training stint in Qatar.
Joel Chew and Kweh, along with Khairin Nadin, were once again bright sparks in attack with their one-touch passing easy on the eye.
However, after Singapore had won seven straight corners, it was the Philippines who had the first clear chance when Kieran Hayes was fouled by Jordan Emaviwe in the box. But skipper and former RB Leipzig midfielder Oliver Bias crashed the spot-kick against the bar.
After the break, Kweh, a former Home United U-14 captain and Singapore U-15 starlet, grabbed his second goal of this campaign as the hosts dominated, kept their nerve and the clean sheet.
The 984 fans present saluted the team with their rendition of the national anthem upon the final whistle.
Nazri said: "We were solid at the back, but we knew we needed to be more clinical as we had many chances against Timor-Leste but couldn't score more.
"We have been working on shooting from outside the box in recent weeks, our players kept trying and Glenn scored a beautiful goal."
Kweh, a business freshman at the National University of Singapore, added: "The coaches always encourage us to shoot, and it has become a natural instinct. We may not always score with every shot, but we have belief and trust in one another that we can get the goals we need.
"Tonight, I saw an opening and went for it, and I'm happy to contribute to the win."
Meanwhile, the Philippines' coach Scott Cooper did not mince his words as he felt his side have been "second-best" in technique, desire and physicality. They will conclude their campaign against the Timorese on Sunday.
The Englishman said: "What we saw of our team in Qatar was not what we saw today... the pressure is different.
"Credit to Singapore, they were sharper than us... we were second to all the balls in midfield. This is the most disappointed and embarrassed I have been in my time here. Not only do we have no points, we have no goals and the performances were alarming."
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