By Les Tan
Aleksandar Duric scored the only goal for Singapore in the 38th minute. (Photo © Les Tan/Red Sports file photo)
Bangkok, Wednesday, November 18, 2009 – Singapore beat Thailand 1-0 to revive their Asian Cup qualification hopes.
A 3-1 loss at home last Saturday had left the Lions third in Group E and Thailand were expected to do the double over Singapore.
However, Aleksandar Duric, who had a poor game at home, made up for it with the only goal of the game on 38 minutes.
A corner swung in by Shaiful Esah was just right for the 1.92m striker who easily shrugged off the attempts of the Thai goalkeeper Kittisak Rawangpa to punch the ball away.
Teerasil Dangda had a great chance to get Thailand level just before half-time when he left Precious Emuejeraye for dead with his pace but his shot with his weaker right foot lacked accuracy and went wide of the left upright, much to Hassan Sunny’s relief.
Thailand repeated their profligacy in front of goal in the second half with Teerasil, Suchao Nutnum and Pipat Tongkanya wasteful with their chances.
Thailand came out desperate in the second half with Bryan Robson's men pushing hard for an equaliser, but they were limited to long-range shots. Instead, it was Singapore who threatened in the 67th minute through Khairul Amri. He broke away from his marker, but his shot to the far post went wide.
Sutee Suksomkit then had a crack at goal following a failed free kick which was held by Hassan Sunny, before he sent a cross for Teerasil Dangda to flash a header marginally wide.
Singapore should have doubled their lead when Duric got in front of his marker to reach Baihakki Khaizan's cross, but his low volley was wide of the post.
Towards the end of the match, substitute Peter Laeng sent a shot over the bar as Singapore held on for a famous 1-0 victory in Thailand.
“We played really good, we just played better than them,” Duric told Red Sports after the game. “Very good game for us, a good win and three points.”
“The competition is now really open and we now have a better opportunity to qualify,” said Singapore coach Raddy Avramovic, according to Reuters. “We had the discipline, we defended well and that’s what’s it’s all about.”
Thailand coach Bryan Robson suffered his first defeat of his brief tenure with the loss.
“I’m very disappointed. It should have been 0-0,” Robson said. “It was a lapse of concentration and a very costly one. It’s not over yet and we still have a good chance to qualify.”
Singapore now lie second in the table on six points, one ahead of Thailand.
Iran lead the group with seven points and the top two teams will qualify for the 2011 Asian Cup.
Singapore’s next game is against Iran on January 6th, 2010.
Group E Results
14 January 2009
Iran 6 Singapore 0
14 January 2009
Jordan 0 Thailand 0
28 January 2009
Thailand 0 Iran 0
28 January 2009
Singapore 2 Jordan 1
14 November 2009
Iran 1 Jordan 0
14 November 2009
Singapore 1 Thailand 3
18 November 2009
Thailand 0 Singapore 1
Upcoming Matches
22 November 2009
Jordan vs Iran
06 January 2010
Thailand vs Jordan
06 January 2010
Singapore vs Iran
03 March 2010
Iran vs Thailand
03 March 2010
Jordan vs Singapore
REDpoll
Who was the man of the match for Singapore against Thailand in the Asian Cup qualifying game on Nov 18, 2009?
- Aleksandar Duric (33%, 72 Votes)
- Hariss Harun (26%, 56 Votes)
- Khairul Amri (12%, 26 Votes)
- Hassan Sunny (8%, 17 Votes)
- Shaiful Esah (6%, 14 Votes)
- Daniel Bennett (3%, 6 Votes)
- Shahril Ishak (3%, 6 Votes)
- Precious Emuejeraye (2%, 5 Votes)
- Baihakki Khaizan (2%, 5 Votes)
- Noh Rahman (2%, 4 Votes)
- Muhd Ridhuan (1%, 2 Votes)
- Mustafic Fahrudin (1%, 2 Votes)
- John Wilkinson (1%, 2 Votes)
Total Voters: 217
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which stadium will singapore play against iran.Where can i buy the tickets?
singapore must try very hard 2 draw iran and win jordan,so that lions can be 2nd in the table.
GOOD LUCK!!
The Lions seems to be like Liverpool, tall, strong, dependable but never really exciting to the senses.
In my humble opinion, I think only Amri is capable of taking on players. Shaiful is pretty impressive but he reminds me of a Danny Murphy, never quite have the pace to beat players but does have an extrodinary ability to bend in the curlers. Indra still seems to be able to contribute and hopefully he gets more runs outs. They appear to be the more outstanding lot out the local born lads.
Excellent results for the Lions though. Congrats and hopefully we would get into the Asian Cup.
LIONS won thailand,i am very happy.Now singapore must win jordan
GOOD LUCK!!
@Les,
While I can’t exactly who the Thai GK is (Kiattisuk something), he is certainly not Datsakorn Thonglao, who is the playmaker who got sub out for Therdsak Chaiman.
Anyway, not a very good game, other than the fact that SG got a goal and did not concede. 1 point advantage over the Thais, but still 180 minutes to go.
Yeah I thought I wrote Kittisak but don’t know why it’s become Datsakorn!
Anyway, I’ll change it back. Thanks.
As for it being a poor game, I was watching it and I must say, watching football is not as fun as watching basketball. And I say it watching football growing up.
Aiyoh. 90 minutes, 1 goal.
The basketball game between the Slingers and Satria Muda in Jakarta was one heart-stopping game that I will remember for life.
The Lions managed to create a few decent chances.
Three in the first half – one by Mustafic, a long-range effort that the keeper saved, and the other that led to the goal. Amri then created one for himself but missed.
In the second half, Amri had a cross that Ridhuan couldn’t get to and Duric turned a Baihakki cross just wide of the post.
It was a good Lions performance marred slightly by the theatrical diving by Amri who was rightly booked for simulation.
Singapore needs another Duric type player 20 years younger. You can’t argue with height and mass in the penalty area.
The irony is that Duric was never part of the Foreign Talent Scheme and just got citizenship on his own.
Looks like Singapore reserves its best performances for venues other than the National Stadium… Time to tear it down!
Mr amri save singapore football…well done former bartley sec boy