AFF Suzuki Cup: 7 facts about Singapore

By Les Tan and Erwin Wong

Khairul Amri (#19) of Singapore is embraced by his teammates after scoring the equalizer against Malaysia. However, the home team eventually went down 1–3 to Malaysia, and did not qualify for the semi-final. (Photo 1 © Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports)

National Stadium, Saturday, November 29, 2014 — Singapore crashed out of the ASEAN Football Championship (AFF Suzuki Cup) after losing 1–3 to Malaysia in their last Group B match.

A draw would have seen the team through to the semi-finals.

Here are seven facts about Singapore at the tournament.

1. First all-local team since 2000

This is the first all-local team at the AFF Championship since 2000.

The Singapore squad that won the 2012 title featured four foreign-born players (Shi Jiayi, Mustafic Fahrudin, Aleksandar Duric, Qiu Li).

2. Singapore scored more goals than Malaysia

Singapore scored more goals than Malaysia in Group B but still missed out on qualifying for the semi-finals.

Singapore went down 1–2 to Thailand, beat Myanmar 4–2, and lost 1–3 to Malaysia to score a total of six goals.

Malaysia drew 0–0 with Myanmar, lost 2–3 to Thailand, and beat Singapore 3–1 to score five goals in total.

3. Singapore let in the most goals

Singapore conceded seven goals over three matches. Malaysia let in four, while Thailand conceded three. Myanmar’s defence allowed six goals.

4. Singapore conceded most of their goals in the second half

Six of the seven goals Singapore conceded were in the second half. Thailand scored one of their goals against Singapore early in the first half.

5. Singapore conceded three penalties in three matches

Singapore conceded one penalty in each preliminary match. Safuwan Baharudin was the unfortunate player who was responsible for two of them against Thailand and Myanmar, while Hafiz Sujad was the other against Malaysia.

6. Malaysia and Thailand are our nemeses

In the history of the AFF Championship, when Singapore are grouped with Malaysia and Thailand, they don’t qualify for the semi-finals. This happened in 1996 and 2002.

7. Largest crowd since 2008

48,000 fans showed up to watch Singapore play Malaysia. This is the largest crowd since 2008 when a full house of 55,000 fans watched Singapore play Vietnam in the semi-final second leg of the AFF Championship at the old National Stadium.

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