SEA Games 2023: Young Lions on the brink of exit after 3-1 loss to Vietnam
Dark clouds gathered over the Prince Stadium on Wednesday as the Singapore Under-22 men’s football team trudged out for their second match of the 2023 SEA Games competition.
It would prove ominous 90 minutes later with the Young Lions losing 3-1 to defending champions Vietnam, leaving them on the brink of a fifth straight group-stage exit.
Singapore, who started their campaign with a 3-1 defeat by Thailand on Sunday, are bottom of the group with zero points after two games. They face Laos in their next match on Saturday, with likely only pride at stake in their final group game against Malaysia on May 11.
In his post match conference, Singapore coach Philippe Aw conceded his team will not stand a realistic chance of progressing.
He said : “The most points we can gather from our next two matches is six. In a group of five, six points are not going to be enough. We will go into our remaining matches to garner the wins. We are improving game by game and we will put in a better performance in the next game against Laos and an even better one against Malaysia.”
Vietnam, who beat Laos 2-0 on Sunday, top Group B with six points, while the Thais are second with three points after one game. Malaysia get their Games campaign underway against Laos later on Wednesday evening.
Aw, who had made five changes to his side that lost to Thailand after attacker Jordan Emaviwe and defender Andrew Aw Yong missed out due to illness, rued his side’s errors.
He said: “At this level, individual mistakes will be punished. It is frustrating because the first 30 minutes we didn’t make things easy for Vietnam. We made things difficult for ourselves with those mistakes.”
Just as they showed in the opener, there was plenty of graft to Singapore’s play but they lacked a moment of inspiration to match the perspiration.
Meanwhile, Vietnam displayed their efficiency by making the most of their chances and capitalising on Singapore’s errors.
In the 36th minute, Vietnam seized possession after a loose touch by Jared Gallagher and surged up the field before Nguyen Van Tung unleashed a shot from inside the box that found the back of the net.
Seven minutes later, it was Gallagher’s midfield partner Fathullah Rahmat who paid the price for an error as Nguyen Thai Son found the ball in his path and rifled home after a poor touch from the Singaporean.
That effort took a deflection off Singapore defender Bill Mamadou and wrong-footed goalkeeper Aizil Yazid, leaving him with no chance of getting a hand to the ball.
In the 80th minute, Vietnam – who had hit the woodwork at least thrice in the second half – put the result beyond any doubt when Ilhan Noor inadvertently turned the ball into his own net while trying to clear a cross from Khuat Van Khang.
Singapore got a consolation goal right at the end when Tien Long Vu cleared into his own net in stoppage time.
The last time Singapore reached the semi finals was in 2013, when they won the bronze medal.
The drought is not likely to end in Cambodia either.
Meanwhile, the Lionesses opened their SEA Games campaign with a 4-0 defeat by five-time champions Thailand at the RSN Stadium. They will face hosts Cambodia in their next Group B match on Saturday before playing Laos next Tuesday.
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