Lion City Cup Football: Singapore U16s go down to Flamengo in penalty heartbreak

Story by Amir Yusof/Red Sports. Photos by Low Sze Sen/Red Sports

Jalan Besar Stadium, Sunday, June 26, 2011 — The Singapore Under-16 team failed to win the Lion City Cup after losing a penalty shootout 3-4 to Flamengo U15. The final had finished 0-0 after 90 minutes.

As expected, the Brazilians dominated large portions of the game but failed to get the ball past goalkeeper Fashah Rosedin (#1) despite creating chances.

As the match went to penalties, there was drama when Singapore missed two of their mandatory five spot kicks with Flamengo’s Ian Evans (#2) the only player failing to convert the penalty for his team. It was a deserved victory for the favourites who were backed by a respectable number of supporters.

Even before the heavily anticipated kick-off, the Flamengo supporters’ cacophony of samba-style drums had drowned out the cheers of the partisan local crowd. Although clearly outnumbered, they were determined to make themselves heard over the Cubs supporters. For the first time in this invitational tournament, the numbers went past the 3,000-mark with an official number of 5,102 in attendance.

The Cubs almost drew first blood when Jonathan Tan (#11) seized on poor defensive play by Flamengo to slip a delightful ball to Hazim Hassan (#13) who was clean through on goal inside the box. Even so, the striker, despite his two goals in the semi-final against Juventus, again showed his inconsistency by lifting the ball over the bar to the groans of the home crowd.

To Hazim’s dismay, that early opportunity was the best Singapore could conjure up in the opening half as the Brazilians began to express themselves with the same magical quality that sets Brazilian football apart.

Leading the display of ‘joga bonito’ was Brazil National U-15 player, Caio Rangel (#10). Named the Most-Valuable-Player (MVP) of the competition, Caio’s showed samba futbol as he danced and swayed around the Singapore defence, the ball glued to his feet.

Caio was brilliant as he cut in from either flanks to shoot on at least three occasions. However, as he left defenders chasing his shadow, his shots were well saved by Fashah Rosedin (#1). The Cub’s custodian was alert in the 26th minute when Rangel skipped across Bryan Neubronner (#16) and sent a screamer into the top right hand corner. Yet, Fashah was equal to the effort, palming the ball over.

Singapore’s most outstanding performer in the game, Fashah also got down well to save Flamengo’s Leornardo Cavalho (#11) effort from inside the box after a fine cross by overlapping full back Jorge Marco.

Singapore’s attempts to play counter-attack football were unfortunately spoiled largely by their poor first touches. Muhaimin Suhaimi, who scored against Flamengo in their opener, was unfortunately responsible for disrupting the fluidity of one such counter move in the 40th minute, to the frustrations of Coach Takuma Koga.

The second period was a more evenly contested affair. While Flamengo continued to squander brilliant opportunities, the Lions had their fair share of chances to win the game.

Seconds after the kickoff, a fine diagonal ball by centre back Lincoln Fernandes (#3) found Caio in a dangerous position. However, his shot was saved once more by Fashah. The confident custodian then quickly threw the ball to his defenders to launch a counter attack. The ball was swiftly worked upfield and found Muhaimin in a similarly menacing position. With defenders closing in, Muhaimin succumbed to the pressure and blasted his shot over the bar.

Then, in the 55th minute of play, Man-of-the-match Fashah highlighted his importance to the team by putting forward Arlindo Neto (#9) under sufficient pressure when the imposing striker was put clean through on goal by a brilliant Leandro Cavalho reverse pass. Just before colliding with Fashah, Arlindo scuffed his shot just wide to the disbelief of all the spectators.

The golden opportunity for the Cubs to win the game came in the 84th minute. Playmaker Hanafi Akhbar (#10) gave Flamengo a taste of their own medicine after excellent footwork on the right wing. Conjuring a stepover or two to disrupt the balance of full back Jorge Marco, the ‘Gelek King’ then pumped a delicious cross into the penalty area. The ball the fell nicely for the head of the unmarked Hazim Hassan but Hazim again failed to score as his header flashed agonizingly wide of the right post as the stunned Singapore supporters were left speechless.

With that miss, the game went into the dreaded penalty shootout.

The Lions, having defeated Juventus via penalties in the semi-finals under controversial circumstances, appeared confident to attain yet another win. Alas, it was not to be.

Although key players Hanafi and Hazim converted the first two spot kicks for the Cubs, substitute Iskandar Khairul Anwar saw his effort well saved by Flamengo custodian Thiago Rodrigues (#1). Defiant till the end, Fashah then guessed correctly to save Ian Evans penalty to set up an interesting final set of kicks for both sides.

As Ian walked away, his head hung in shame, Thiago walked up to him whispering words of encouragement in his ear. Later on, Thiago revealed that he had told Ian not to be distraught as he would save the next one. And that he did. Thiago was superb again, this time guessing correctly to deny vice-captain Ilyas Lee.

With the pressure on his shoulders, Arlindo Neto then stepped up to calmly chipp the ball into the top left corner of the goal to the dismay of the Singapore supporters.

While the Brazilians danced and cheered in jubilation, the Cubs were dejected with the result. The pain was apparent on the faces of coach Takuma Koga and skipper Dhulkhilan in the post-match press conference.

Coach Koga said: “It was always going to be difficult against Flamengo but the players worked hard and attained good experience from this competition. Now, although the competition is over, our work is not finished. We have a bright future ahead after achieving the silver medal.”

Dhulkilan echoed his coach’s sentiments when he said: “At first we felt disappointment and heartbroken with the loss. But we have to be proud of ourselves with the performance as we held them for ninety minutes. We are proud also for each other and can still afford to smile and hold our heads high with our performance in this competition.”

Newly appointed Minister of Community Development, Youth and Sports, Major-General Chan Chun Sing was present to cheer on both the Singapore U16s and U15s.

After the game, Mr Chan said” “I am very proud of the performance of both our teams. They have done well against tough opposition and this shows that our system to train the youth have been successful. We look forward to further success from this batch of talented youngsters.”

Despite not winning the competition, our Lions have proved that Singapore are more than a match for world class opponents. Without a doubt, the future is bright for Singapore football.

CR Flamengo U15 Lineup
Thiago Rodrigues (#1), Ian Evans (#2), Lincoln Fernando (#3), Mathues Carvalho (#4), Jorge Marco (#6), Leonardo Poubel (#7), Caio Thimoteo (#5), Arlindo Neto (#9), Caio Rangel (#10), Leandro Carvalho (#11), Pedro Fernandes (#14)

Singapore U16 Lineup
Fashah Rosedin (#1), Amirul Mazlan (#6), Brandon Koh (#7), Hanafi Akbar (#10), Jonathan Tan (#11), Hazim Hassan (#13), Illyas Lee (#14), Bryan Neubronner (#15), Dhukilan (#16), Muhaimin Suhaimi (#17), Fatemy Firdouse (#19)

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