In front of a partisan Vietnamese crowd of 6,046, at the Viet Tri Stadium, Singapore’s Under-23 Men’s National Team stood firm in the face of relentless attacks, offering stiff resistance against hosts Vietnam.
But Firdaus Kassim’s charges eventually fell 1-0 to the regional powerhouses in Group C of their AFC U23 Asian Cup qualifying campaign.
Head Coach Firdaus, who had urged his boys to show resilience ahead of the campaign, praised his side’s resolute defending.
“Huge respect to my players for the effort they showed today. We were extremely competitive against one of the best teams in Southeast Asia. Technically, our players were very, very smart… They were frustrating the opposition, limiting them to only long-distance shots and chances,” said Firdaus.
“I am very, very proud of the players. So this is a big positive we will take into the next game.”
For just over 78 minutes, Firdaus’ charges held their own against the Vietnam attack, with Singapore goalkeeper Aizil Yazid the standout performer, producing a series of flying saves between the sticks.
“Going into the game, we knew Vietnam would be a very strong team, especially playing in their homeland. We knew it was going to be a tough fight, but I think the boys did well, and we can only move on from here and get better for the next game,” Aizil said.
A bullet header by Vietnamese forward Le Van Thuan late in the game proved the difference between the sides, dashing hopes of a creditable away draw for the Lions.
Firdaus added, “Vietnam is one of the best teams in Southeast Asia, and we have to be extremely focused against a strong team like them. And if we lose our concentration in the moment, that’s when Vietnam can punish us – we cannot afford to make these kinds of errors.”
The hosts started the match on the front foot and peppered the Singapore goal with shots.
Just after the half-hour mark, Vietnam midfielder Viktor Le, who scored in his side’s 2-0 opening win against Bangladesh, slid in at the far post to poke home a dangerous cross in the six-yard box, only for it to cannon off the post.
In first half stoppage time, Le uncorked a fearsome shot from range, but Aizil flew across the goal and got a strong hand to palm the ball to safety.
Early in the second half, another effort from just on the edge of the box was well saved by an alert Aizil and by the hour mark, the 20-year-old had already pulled off a handful of top-drawer reflex saves.
Vietnam finally beat the in-form Aizil in the 68th minute, but the woodwork came to the rescue once more to keep it level between the sides.
The score would only stay level for 10 more minutes after that, when a Le Van Thuan header beat Aizil in the Singapore goal.
Describing the match as a step up from their opener against Yemen, Firdaus gave credit to the improved performance of his players across the campaign so far.
“Even though we have a very young squad, our purpose of coming here is to compete. And I think we have shown we are very competitive over these two games, especially today. And this is exactly what we want to achieve,” he said.
Singapore will hope to end their qualifying campaign on a positive note as they face bottom side Bangladesh on Tuesday, 9 September.
