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 for much of the contest, but eventually slipped to a 1-0 defeat against hosts Vietnam in Group C of their AFC U23 Asian Cup qualifying campaign.
Head Coach Firdaus Kassim, who had urged his side to show resilience ahead of the tournament, acknowledged the effort shown by his players, but admitted the result was a tough one to take.
“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.
“But ultimately, football is about results, and it hurts not to take something from this match. We need to learn from moments like this, because at this level, even the smallest lapse can be costly.”
For over 79 minutes, Firdaus’ charges kept Vietnam at bay, with goalkeeper Aizil Yazid producing a string of fine saves. A bullet header by Vietnamese forward Le Van Thuan eventually broke the deadlock in the 79th minute, sealing victory for the hosts.
“Going into the game, we knew Vietnam would be a very strong team, especially playing in their homeland. It was always going to be a tough fight. I think the boys worked hard, but the reality is we came up short tonight,” said Aizil.
Captain Amir Syafiz’s dismissal in stoppage time compounded Singapore’s frustrations, as the skipper picked up two yellow cards in quick succession deep into added time.
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 79th minute, when Le Van Thuan’s header found the back of the net.
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.
