Story by REDintern Koh Yizhe. Photos by Lai Jun Wei.

singapore vs vietnam aff soccer

Noh Alam Shah (Singapore, #8) tries to intercept a cross by teammate Muhammad Ridhuan with a slide, but he unfortunately missed. (Photo 1 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)

National Stadium, Sunday, December 21, 2008 - Despite dominating the game from start to finish and throwing all they had at Vietnam, Singapore were unable to overcome the Vietnamese as they lost 0-1 in the second leg semi final of the ASEAN Football Championship (AFF Suzuki Cup).

A goal from Nguyen Quang Hai in the 74th minute was enough to silence the near-capacity 48,000 crowd that turned out at the National Stadium only to see their beloved Singapore lose. After drawing 0-0 in the first leg, Singapore are now out of the championship while Vietnam progress to the finals to meet Thailand.

With John Wilkinson out with a calf injury, Shahril Ishak, who only saw action as a substitute in the group stages, started on the left.

Up front, Noh Alam Shah partnered Agu Casmir while Indra Sahdan was relegated to the bench after a poor performance against Vietnam in the first leg.

The captaincy changed hands once again, this time going to Mohamed Noh Bin Rahman.

Singapore started on a high, making their intentions known right from the kick off. A speculative cross from Shi Jiayi was easily collected by the Vietnam keeper in first minute. Unlike the first leg match, Singapore settled immediately and got their passing game going.

Pushing for an early goal, Agu collected a long ball in the seventh minute, but the Vietnamese defender was alert enough to stab the ball out for a corner. This chance was follow by another as Noh Alam Shah's shot was deflected out after Agu unselfishly laid the ball up for him.

Shahril Ishak, starting only his first match of the championship, made an immediate impact with darting runs down the left. His intensity could also be seen as he got the yellow card after reacting to a hard tackle from Doan Viet Cuong who also received the yellow card.

Although Singapore dominated early proceedings, they didn't create many clear chances of note and their finishing touch wasn't there.

It was only in the 19th minute when the chances started rolling in. An accurate long pass from Shi Jiayi found Noh Alam Shah at the edge of the box. Despite having a defender on his shoulder, Alam Shah muscled the defender off to make space for himself to get a shot away. Unfortunately, it flew over the bar.

An excellent run next by Noh Rahman down the right ended in a cross which found Noh Alam Shah but the latter’s shot was straight at the goalkeeper.

Shahril Ishak then started a threatening move in the 26th minute as he received the ball out wide in his half. Beating his man, he cut in and ran at the defense. With Agu on his left and Noh Alam Shah on his right, he opted for Agu who drifted offside, ending the chance.

At the other end, Singapore's back four repulsed whatever the Vietnamese threw at them, ensuring that a repeat of the harrowing first leg wouldn't happened again.

Singapore prevented Vietnam from getting their passing game going, conceding many free kicks, but the Vietnamese weren't able to make much of it.

The last and best chance of the half came when Singapore had a corner in the 44th minute and Agu's free header was cleared off the line.

The second half started where the first left off, with Singapore dominating the game while Vietnam had trouble keeping up. A cross from Ridhuan early on found Noh Alam Shah, but his shot went just wide of the post. Jiayi then had a shot deflected out for a corner as Singapore pushed for the opening goal.

With the crowd getting impatient, the Singapore players started to get anxious as they were repeatedly caught offside. Even Singapore coach Radojko Avramovic was on edge as the referee told him to get back to the bench.

Attempting to shake up the game, coach Raddy sent Indra Sahdan on for Agu Casmir in the 66th minute, and he made immediate impact, latching on to a loose ball following a corner but his volley was off target.

This was followed by yet another great opportunity after Shahril skipped past his man and threaded a pass to Indra. With just a split second to shoot, his tame shot went welcomingly into the keeper’s arms.

Yet another chance went begging in the 70th minute when the ever-persisting Ridhuan was found at the far post after a cross from the left. His header across goal, however, was missed by an onrushing Noh Alam Shah.

The turning point in the match came in the 73rd minute when Noh Rahman was taken off for Ismail Yunos. Ismail, who plays for the Young Lions in the S.League, had problems keeping up with Le Cong Vinh who was released down the left in a lightning quick Vietnamese counter-attack.

He beat Ismail for pace from the centre line and tore into the box, crossing the ball into the path of teammate Nguyen Quang Hai who beat an exposed Lionel Lewis inside the penalty box.

The Singapore crowd was stunned into silence as the Vietnamese contingent broke into full song and cheering.

Singapore then laid siege to the Vietnam goal for the remaining 15 minutes as they desperately pushed for an equalizer.

The Vietnamese however were doing just enough to hold off the defending champions as they were limited to half chances with the ball swung into the penalty area each time Singapore had possession.

Right down to the last minute, Singapore bombarded Vietnam's penalty box with crosses, throw-ins and corners as they struggled to find the back of the net.

Despite pressure from the crowd as well as on the pitch, Vietnam hung on for the 1-0 win.

Radojko Avramovic commented after the match, "This was one of our best performances of this tournament. We created more than enough chances to win this match, but we just didn't put the ball into the net. We didn't deserve to lose this match, but I have no complains about the team's contribution."

"I felt Vietnam didn't deserve to win this match, but they deserved to win the first leg one. It was a single lapse in concentration that gave the game to them, and that is football. I wish Vietnam good luck in the finals."

Referring to the many injuries that plagued the team, he said, "If the whole squad was fit, we would have easily won this Championship. Even Agu had a muscle problem in this match, and Shahril Ishak isn't fully fit."

"We now prepare for the Asian Cup qualifiers as it will be more difficult with teams like Jordan and Iran. This team has been playing together for four or five years, and can play together for another two or three years."

The Vietnam coach had contrasting views, "We played really well and deserved to win. It was our tactic from the start to keep the score at 0-0 as time is on our side. We just waited for that single counter-attack that changed the story of the game."

"Singapore played the right tactic of pushing players up field. Should Singapore have scored first, we wouldn't have won as Singapore has a strong defense. So I wouldn't say Singapore did anything wrong, as in football, you might play well but lose."

When asked about the finals with Thailand, he chose not to comment saying, "Now is the time to enjoy, not talking about the finals."