Singapore draw 2-2 with Malaysia in final warm up for ASEAN Championship

By Les Tan

singapore vs vietnam soccer

Aleksander Duric (red) in action during the recent 2-2 draw against Vietnam. His two-goal effort in Malaysia will assure coach Raddy Avramovic of his attacking threat. (Photo © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports file photo)

MBPJ Stadium, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, Saturday, November 29, 2008 – Singapore were held to a 2-2 draw by Malaysia in their final warm-up friendly match before the start of the ASEAN Football Championship (AFF Suzuki Cup) on December 5th.

Aleksandar Duric scored both goals for Singapore, his first goals since October 28th, when he scored for Singapore Armed Forces FC in a 2-0 win over the Young Lions in the recently concluded S.League.

Duric scored in the 10th minute with a tap in before Ahirulhadi Zainal equalised in the 22nd minute to make it 1-1. Duric then scored his second, a grounder from just outside the box, in the 44th minute to ensure the Lions went into the break 2-1 ahead.

The second half saw Malaysia take the game to Singapore and they finally equalised in the 75th minute through Hardi Jaafar.

This is the third draw in a row for Singapore, having drawn Vietnam 0-0 in Hanoi and 2-2 at home. There is no doubting the ability of Singapore to score, only their ability to defend.

Goalkeeper Lionel Lewis would have been furious by how much space the defenders gave Ahirulhadi Zainal in the penalty box. Zainal had space and time to shoot without a defender near him. The exposed Lewis got his body behind the shot but it had enough momentum to spill over him into goal.

The second Malaysian goal was a highlight reel long-range effort from midfield that curled past Lewis.

Singapore played a traditional 4-4-2 formation, with the experiment of playing captain Indra Sahdan in a withdrawn right midfield role all but abandoned.

Coach Raddy Avramovic started with Aleksandar Duric and Agu Casmir and those two look like the favoured starting pair. Indra and Noh Alam Shah came on for Duric and Agu respectively and it will be a surprise to see them start the first game against Cambodia on December 5th in Jakarta.

Precious Emuejeraye and Baihakki Khaizan both had full games and they too are confirmed starters along with Daniel Bennett and Mohd Noh Rahman.

The midfield quartet of Muhd Ridhuan, Shi Jiayi, Mustafic Fahrudin and John Wilkinson started the game with Mustafic and Jiayi playing the entire game.

Singapore lineup:
Lionel Lewis (Hassan Sunny 80')

Mohd Noh Rahman (Ismail Yunos 90')
Baihakki Khaizan
Precious Emuejeraye
Daniel Bennett (Juma'at Jantan 48')

Muhd Ridhuan (Shaiful Esah 90')
Fahrudin Mustafic
Shi Jiayi
John Wilkinson (Sharil Ishak 69')

Agu Casmir (Noh Alam Shah 59')
Aleksandar Duric (Indra Sahdan 59')