Judging from the reaction, fans and media are not too impressed with Singapore’s 0-0 draw with Malaysia last night in Jakarta. It was Singapore’s opening match of their South-east Asian (SEA) Games football campaign.
Most readers have rated the Young Lions as “poor” in Red Sports’ ongoing poll (see below) but Singapore’s head coach Slobodan Pavkovic believes the team played to its ability.
“I think at this moment against Malaysia we cannot do much better than this,” said Pavkovic after the match, in a brutally honest assessment of his squad. “This was a game against the defending champions who have been preparing for a long time for this SEA Games, so I think it is one point gained rather than two points lost.”
Pavkovic lined up his squad in a defensive 3-4-2-1 formation, making life difficult for the Malaysians, especially in the first 20 minutes.
Malaysian head coach Ong Kim Swee admitted as much.
“We did not play well in the first 20 minutes but after that, I thought we did well except to score,” said Kim Swee, according to the Malaysian newspaper, New Straits Times.
The Singapore print media were not impressed.
“The Singapore side were toothless in attack, they showed no pace anywhere around the pitch and there was little inter-play in the engine room to spark any sort of smart build-up,” wrote the TODAY newspaper.
The Straits Times labelled it “a drab 0-0 draw” in an editorial headlined “No goals, no fizz”.
The New Paper highlighted one positive from the game, noting that the team “kept their concentration and discipline throughout the 90 minutes”.
The Malaysian media were not too happy with their team either. The New Straits Times wrote that “Malaysia did not have the look of champions”, describing the 0-0 draw as “disappointing”.
“Despite fielding an attacking lineup featuring four strikers, no goals were on hand as the route to the last four became trickier ahead of tomorrow’s match against Thailand,” wrote the New Straits Times about their Malaysian team.
On Facebook, Red Sports reader Skyee Alfonso felt that “basically they [Young Lions] played well, strikers need to improve to be more aggressive (and) must pressure the defence. You can defend well, control the midfield, but if the striker is not pressuring the defence, you can’t win the game.”
In a comment left on Red Sports, reader KZ described the Young Lions as having given “a fighting performance”. “[T]he only drawback with this young lions team,” wrote KZ, “is that they do not have a razor sharp striker who can convert the chances created. Hence they might struggle in the competition as goals matter.”
With Indonesia thrashing Cambodia 6-0 in another Group A match last night, goal difference might come into play as the tournament progresses. Only the top two from the group will qualify for the semi-finals. The pressure is now on Singapore to score against Cambodia whom they will meet tomorrow, Wednesday, November 9th, 2011. The game will be shown ‘live’ on MediaCorp Channel 5 at 7.55pm.
With regard to Singapore's 0-0 draw with Malaysia at the 2011 SEA Games football tournament ...
- The Young Lions were poor. (63%, 332 Votes)
- The Young Lions were average. (23%, 120 Votes)
- The Young Lions were good. (15%, 78 Votes)
Total Voters: 530
Loading ...SEA Games 2011 Football — Group A Fixtures
Venue for all matches: Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta. Time shown is Singapore time. Jakarta time is one hour behind.(cross-flag-pins.com)
| Day/Date | Team A | Team B | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon, Nov 7 | Singapore  | 0 | Malaysia  | 0 | 5pm |
| Mon, Nov 7 | Indonesia  | 6 | Cambodia  | 0 | 8pm |
| Wed, Nov 9 | Malaysia | 2 | Thailand  | 1 | 5pm |
| Wed, Nov 9 | Cambodia | 1 | Singapore | 2 | 8pm |
| Fri, Nov 11 | Singapore | 0 | Indonesia | 2 | 3pm |
| Fri, Nov 11 | Thailand | 4 | Cambodia | 0 | 6pm |
| Sun, Nov 13 | Malaysia | 4 | Cambodia | 1 | 5pm |
| Sun, Nov 13 | Indonesia | 3 | Thailand | 1 | 8pm |
| Thu, Nov 17 | Thailand | 0 | Singapore | 2 | 5pm |
| Thu, Nov 17 | Indonesia | 0 | Malaysia | 1 | 8pm |
SEA Games 2011 Football — Group A Table
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malaysia | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 10 |
| Indonesia | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 9 |
| Singapore | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| Thailand | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 3 |
| Cambodia | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
SEA Games 2011 Football — Group B Fixtures
Venue for Nov 3rd matches: Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta. Venue for all other matches: Lebak Bulus Stadium, Jakarta. Time shown is Singapore time. Jakarta time is one hour behind.(cross-flag-pins.com)
| Day/Date | Team A | Team B | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, Nov 3 | Vietnam  | 3 | Philippines  | 1 | 5pm |
| Thu, Nov 3 | Laos  | 2 | Myanmar  | 3 | 8pm |
| Sat, Nov 5 | Brunei  | 1 | Timor Leste  | 2 | 5pm |
| Sat, Nov 5 | Myanmar | 0 | Vietnam | 0 | 8pm |
| Mon, Nov 7 | Timor Leste | 2 | Philippines | 1 | 5pm |
| Mon, Nov 7 | Laos | 2 | Brunei | 2 | 8pm |
| Wed, Nov 9 | Myanmar | 4 | Brunei | 0 | 5pm |
| Wed, Nov 9 | Vietnam | 2 | Timor Leste | 0 | 8pm |
| Fri, Nov 11 | Philippines | 3 | Laos | 2 | 5pm |
| Sat, Nov 12 | Brunei | 0 | Vietnam | 8 | 5pm |
| Sun, Nov 13 | Philippines | 0 | Myanmar | 5 | 5pm |
| Sun, Nov 13 | Timor Leste | 0 | Laos | 3 | 8pm |
| Tue, Nov 15 | Myanmar | 1 | Timor Leste | 0 | 5pm |
| Tue, Nov 15 | Philippines | 1 | Brunei | 1 | 8pm |
| Thu, Nov 17 | Laos | 1 | Vietnam | 3 | 5pm |
SEA Games 2011 Football — Group B Table
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vietnam | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 13 |
| Myanmar | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 13 |
| Timor Leste | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 6 |
| Laos | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 11 | 4 |
| Philippines | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 4 |
| Brunei | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 2 |
Myanmar is the best…
Laos Sou Sou !
Couldn’t agree more. I’m Singaporean and I thought the Young Lions did alright.
A disciplined nil-nil draw with the defending champions and a team we haven’t beaten in the SEA games since the conversion to a U23 competition. And we could’ve nicked it at the end of the game.
Fan expectations are way out of touch with reality.
singapore fans very weird…we malaysians who should be upset more as the lions didnt do that bad.
Myanmar is the best…