Singapore crash out of semi-finals on penalties to Vietnam in youth football tournament
Contributed by Visakan Subramaniam
Binh Duong, Vietnam, Saturday, October 17, 2009 – The Singapore Olympic Team was beaten by the Vietnam Under-19 6-5 on penalties after the match ended 0-0 in the semi-finals of the Vietnam Youth Newspaper Cup played yesterday evening in Binh Duong, Vietnam.
Goalkeeper Muhammad Syazwan saved Vietnam's fourth penalty kick but both Hafiz Abu Sujad and Rahim As'ari were unable to convert theirs as Vietnam progressed to the finals where they will meet China Under-21.
Singapore will meet Vietnam Under-21, whom they beat in the opening match 3-2, in the 3rd/4th placing match on Sunday afternoon.
Singapore, who scored six goals in two games, found it difficult to score in a heavy field after torrential rains soaked the pitch just before the start of the match.
To make matters worse, Aliff Azmi was given a straight red after an innocuous challenge in the 62nd minute.
"Aliff (Azmi) was sent off for a very soft challenge which made things very difficult for us. We couldn't counter attack fast enough as it took too long for us to get from defense to attack because of the numerical disadvantage," said coach V Sundram Moorthy.
"Shahfiq (Ghani) was all alone up front and when we got the ball to him, he was surrounded by 2 or 3 Vietnamese players.
"The boys tried their best in the match. They gave it all but were unable to get that vital goal," said Sundram of his team.
Singapore Lineup
1 Muhammad Syazwan, 5 Ali Hudzaifi, 3 Rahim As’ari, 15 Abdil Qaiyyim, 2 Muhammad Firman (14 Saiful Bahari 60'), 8 Hafiz Abu Sujad, 6 Hidhir Hasbiallah (16 Muhammad Iryani 78'), 13 Izzdin Shafiq, 7 Shahfiq Ghani (9 Zulfadhli Emran 90'), 11 Aliff Azmi, 20 Ang Zhiwei
International Under-21 Football Tournament – Vietnam Youth Newspaper Cup 2009
Schedule
3rd/4th Placing
18 October 2009
3.00pm
Final
18 October 2009
5.30pm
ABOUT THIS AUTHOR
Loading ...
Reply