Singapore came agonisingly close to forcing extra time and keeping their ASEAN Championship final hopes alive, but ultimately bowed out 4-3 on aggregate in the semi-finals on Tuesday (Aug 19) night.
The 2-1 victory at Bangkok’s Rajamangala Stadium — their first there since 2009 — was nevertheless a performance for the approximately 150 travelling fans present to be proud of, with the Singapore supporters in full voice for much of the game.
Goals from brothers Harhys and Ryhan Stewart either side of half-time gave the visitors hope of overcoming the two-goal deficit, but a 61st-minute penalty was enough to send Thailand through to the final, where they will face either Malaysia or Vietnam.
Defending champions Vietnam won the first leg 2-0 and will play Malaysia at the My Dinh Stadium on Wednesday (Aug 19).
Speaking after the match, head coach Gavin Lee was immensely proud of his charges for the way they pushed the Thais all the way.
“Before the tournament we said we wanted to allow the performance to determine the destination… Massively proud. I thought we were at least going to extra time, to be honest. But football is cruel. I think over two weeks maybe we just fell short a little bit.”
“But take nothing away, I thought tonight was very good to see. The spirit and the team and there are so many positives that we can take away from this competition. We just keep on building,” said Lee after the result ended Singapore’s 11-match losing streak against the record seven-time champions.
But the biggest takeaway from an encouraging campaign remained the connection built with fans over the last three weeks.
“On the pitch, we have made some improvements, game on game. We grew in this competition. But I think one thing we should be proudest of is our connection with the fans… I think it’s been a long while since we had this relationship, and we want to build on this.
“This group of players increasingly understand what it means to play for the national team and the duties they have. Every time they’re out there, like tonight, they never give up… I think Singaporeans are very proud of (this) and resonate with (it). This is potentially one of the biggest takeaways that we can have from this competition,” Lee said.
“You cannot buy belief from Sheng Siong or Prime. It’s just not possible. Belief is built on evidence, and I think the Asian Cup qualification, the Okinawa trip, and then with each game, with each window, we are just building more evidence for people to trust. To trust that, look, we can play, we can compete. And then the question is, can we do it even better against even bigger opposition? And that’s how we grow.”
Trailing 3-1 from the first leg, Singapore came out of the blocks with purpose and intensity, producing a fluent display in the first period, creative yet aggressive when moving forward in attack.
With half-time fast approaching, Thai goalkeeper Kampol Pathomakkakul rushed out of his box to close down Farhan Zulkifli, but could only divert the ball into the path of Harhys. The forward’s first-time effort from outside the box, his second international goal, gave the Lions a real shot at the comeback they needed just before the break.
In the 61st minute, a slick chop by full-back Wanchai Jarunongkran inside the penalty box saw him lose his marker Ryhan, but the Singaporean’s trailing leg caught the Thai defender and sent him tumbling, earning the War Elephants a penalty which substitute Kakana Khamyok duly converted.
Player of the match Ryhan made amends for his earlier error just four minutes later, as his shot from an acute angle took a deflection off the shin of Thai defender Pansa Hemviboon and ended up in the back of the net as an own goal.
Though the night’s result marked the end of the road for Singapore in the regional competition, the squad can now look towards the upcoming FIFA ASEAN Cup and next year’s Asian Cup with renewed hope.
“We’re working towards that. We want to be a top team in Southeast Asia and compete at the Asian level. So we’re working towards it every day in training, doing analysis, everything. We’re doing our best to achieve that,” Ryhan said.
