Singapore’s Under-23 Men’s National Team went toe to toe with a physically dominant Yemen in their Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-23 Asian Cup qualifying opener, but two first-half penalties proved costly as they slipped to a 2-1 defeat.
This performance is an improvement from their 3-0 defeat to the same opponents two years ago. Head Coach Firdaus Kassim was pleased with how his side acquitted themselves, particularly with the performance of 16-year-old wing back Harith Danish, and teenagers Rae Peh (16) and Luth Harith (17) who made an impact off the bench in the second half.
“For them to show the maturity they did — I think everyone can agree we were the much better team in the second half. We controlled the game, and the players weren’t afraid to show their personality, getting on the ball, playing difficult passes, and taking on opponents,” Firdaus said.
“This is exactly what we expect from them.”
He added that the display of character was a promising takeaway beyond the immediate result.
“That’s a big positive we can take away, not just for this competition. It’s also a very good sign for the future, because we have more young players showing personality, like they did in the second half,” he said.
Singapore put on an aggressive press while maintaining a high line in a bid to suffocate their opponents from the kick off, carving out the first chance of the match when Muhammad Asis’ long-range effort whistled over the bar in just the second minute.
But as the first period wore on, they seemed to lack bite in their offence with Yemen capitalising.
“We were passive in the first half. I didn’t like how we started the game. But in the second half, we were much better and created chances,” Firdaus added.
Yemen surged to a 2-0 lead courtesy of two penalties, with Singapore custodian Aizil Yazid getting a hand to the first penalty in the 20th minute, but Radhi Ebrahim reacted quickest to bury the rebound.
Yemen were awarded their second penalty in the second minute of injury time at the end of the first half. This time, Abdulaziz Masnom made no mistake from the spot.
Singapore came out of the break with renewed purpose, and the breakthrough finally came when 20-year-old substitute Louka Tan-Vaissiere rifled the ball into the top-right corner in the 80th minute, sparking hopes of a comeback.
In the 90th minute, Singapore nearly found a way back when Kian Jared Ghadessy latched onto a loose back pass and poor clearance, but could not apply the finishing touch.
Minutes later, they came even closer to snatching an equaliser, but Yemeni goalkeeper Osamah Ali Mokref pulled off a double save to preserve victory for his team.
Singapore captain Amir Syafiz was proud of the fight his team showed despite trailing for most parts of the game.
“I was encouraged by the boys’ performance, especially in the second half. Even though we were down in the first half, we didn’t give up, and that was a positive. We will take this positivity into the next game,” Amir said.
With their next match a tough clash against hosts Vietnam on Saturday (6 September), Firdaus believes his side will come away from this defeat with valuable lessons.
“We showed good quality and personality, but we have to learn from that first half that being passive at the international level can be costly. If you start slow, you get punished, and it’s very difficult to come back,” he said.
“That’s one of the takeaways we’ll look to improve on, starting with the next game.”
Despite facing favoured opposition, Firdaus is confident his side will show that same desire and resilience throughout the match.
He said: “We go into every game with the intention to win. We have an idea of how Vietnam want to play. We will analyse today’s game and see what the strengths are… and we will come up with a game plan for that.
“It will be a tough game, but I expect the Singapore team to give a very good fight against Vietnam.”
