Update by Kenneth Tan/Red Sports

Ying Dong Stadium, Guangzhou, China, Sunday, November 7, 2010 — The Singapore Under-23 football team kicked off their Asian Games football campaign on a good note by holding defending champions Qatar to a 0-0 draw.

The Qataris, who won the competition in 2006 at home, dominated for large periods of the game but were denied by a stubborn Singapore defence the whole night.

Goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud was undoubtedly the hero as he made a series of good saves in the final 15 minutes to frustrate the Qataris. The Qataris had 65% of the possession and peppered the Singapore goal with 15 shots.

In contrast, despite not producing a single threatening shot on goal for the entire game, Singapore nearly made their opponents pay in the fifth minute of injury time when Qatar keeper Sofyan Ahmed rushed out of his goal to close down on substitute Erwan Gurnawan in a one-on-one opportunity.

Erwan managed to get the better of Sofyan and attempted a curling effort over him from the left touchline, but the keeper was quick enough to get back to his goal to prevent the shot from floating in under his crossbar.

“It was unlucky. I only wished for all of us and for Singapore that it had gone in. But we earned a point,” said Erwan.

Coach V Sundram Moorthy was a happy man after the match.

“I’m very delighted with the result, they gave a full-hearted commitment and they have done Singapore proud by managing to come off with a draw against the defending champions. We started the game cautiously and were hoping for a break during lapses (of concentration from Qatar). There was almost a chance for us in the end,” he said.

He also noted the role his goalkeeper Izwan played in getting a crucial point out of the tough game.

“He was very lively and inspired the boys with his saves throughout the match. He kept us in the game throughout and it was a fantastic performance from him,” exclaimed Sundram.

In the other group D clash, Kuwait overcame India 2-0.

Kuwait are currently top of the table with three points, while Singapore and Qatar are tied on one each. India occupy the fourth and final spot in the group.

Singapore will take on Kuwait in their next game on Tuesday, November 10.

Singapore lineup
Izwan Mahbud (GK); Faritz Abdul Hameed, Safuwan Baharudin, Afiq Yunos, Shakir Hamzah; Shahdan Sulaiman, Firdaus Kasman (Eddie Chang 77′), Hariss Harun (captain), Izzdin Shafiq, Nazrul Ahmad Nazari (Fazly Hassan); Shahril Ishak (Erwan Gurnawan 90′ +2)

All Results
Group D
Qatar 0 Singapore 0
Kuwait 2 India 0

Group E
Uzbekistan 3 Bangladesh 0
United Arab Emirates 1 Hong Kong 1

Group F
Maldives 0 Oman 3
Thailand 6 Pakistan 0