New look Lions squeeze past Jordan in Asian Cup qualifying

Story by Koh Yizhe. Pictures by Lai Jun Wei, Vanessa Lim and Marvin Tang.

National Stadium, Wednesday, January 28, 2009 – Singapore stepped up their game and came out 2-1 winners over a higher-ranked Jordan at the National Stadium.

It was a match the Lions needed to win after their 0-6 thrashing by Iran last week to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the 2011 Asian Cup.

A 21st-minute goal by Agu Casmir was cancelled out by a dubious penalty call after Odai (Jordan #8) went down following minimal contact by Noh Rahman. But Singapore came right back in the second half through Noh Alam Shah as he coolly slotted home after he was put through by an incisive Daniel Bennett through ball from the back.

Singapore started the match well, making their intentions known as early as the first minute with Agu Casmir taking an early shot after a run down the left. The pressure was on Jordan early on as Singapore kept the ball in Jordan's half.

Jordan only had their first chance after seven minutes, with a free kick from distance going high.

The pressure was clearly on the Jordan goal, with a dangerous cross swung in by Ridhuan which was desperately cleared. The resulting shot from the corner was wide from John Wilkinson. This was followed by a clear chance for Noh Alam Shah, but he failed to get his head cleanly behind the ball although he was left unmarked.

Singapore did have their nervous moments too, however. Singapore had rock-steady centre-back Daniel Bennett to thank for blocking a Jordanian shot on goal from the right at the 15-minute mark.

Bennett was called into action again five minutes later when he slid in a last ditch tackle after new man Shaiful was easily turned by the Jordanian attacker.

The turning point of the first half came after 21 minutes when Ridhuan failed to connect inside the Jordanian penalty box with Shahril's cross from the right. His mis-header fell kindly to the unmarked Agu who had all the time in the world to pick his spot to unleash a half-volley which bounced off the left upright and into the goal.

Noh Alam Shah then failed to put the game to sleep after good work from Agu Casmir and Shahril presented him with a one-on-one opportunity. The keeper did well to save the point blank shot but Alam Shah could have done better.

Jordan were finally rewarded for all their possession and probing play in the 41st minute when Noh Rahman looked to have brought Odai down right in front of the referee who immediately pointed to the spot. Replays showed minimal contact and that Odai was leaning into Noh Radman.

Captain Hatem (Jordan #17) sent Hassan Sunny the wrong way to score the equalizer.

With the score tied 1-1, both team wasted important chances to take the lead in the second half. Odai wasted a good chance when he squared a ball across the face of goal only for it to find a Singapore defender. Ridhuan then wasted a chance after breaking free into the penalty box, unable to decide between squaring the ball to the on-rushing Agu, and taking a shot, and was closed down.

Jordan decided to bring on Shelbaieh (#9) for Abdelhad (#34) after 59 minutes and he made an immediate impact with his studs on Shaiful Esah’s shin to earn himself a yellow card in the 63rd minute.

The resulting free kick was easily cleared by the Jordanian defense, but Daniel Bennett, seeing an opportunity, pumped the ball forward to the unmarked Alam Shah. With only the keeper between him and goal, he made no mistake as he drove the ball into the net for a 2-1 Singapore lead.

The goal woke Jordan up and they piled the pressure on the Singapore back line. Midfielder Baha (#4) dribbled past three defenders only for his shot to be saved by an alert Hassan Sunny.

This was followed by another fantastic opportunity for Jordan in the 78th minute when Hatem's (#17) scissors kick was deflected out by Noh Alam Shah, prompting a vociferous call for a penalty by the Jordanian players for an alleged hand ball.

The final chance for Jordan came in the 87th minute when a Mustafic Fahrudin tackle gave Jordan a free kick at the edge of the penalty area. However, Deeb’s (#7) free kick managed to only find the side netting.

National team coach Raddy Avramovic was a reasonably satisfied man at the post-match press conference.

"Daniel played well tonight. Shaiful Esah can do more, but it is his first game, so it is understandable. Ridhuan also made good runs with more one-two passing and overlapping runs, but he can do much more," said Avramovic.

"I didn't really see the penalty, but it was an easy decision for the referee as it was in front of him. We should have put the game to sleep after the first goal. Noh Alam Shah should have scored in the first half to make it 2-0. But we were playing well with more passes and movement in the second half and Noh Alam Shah scored a great goal."

"I have said before that this group is tough. Iran has the advantage, and so it's up to Jordan, Thailand and Singapore to fight for second."

Jordan’s Portuguese coach, Eduardo Vingada was understandably not a happy man.

“Congratulations to Singapore for the win, but I feel a draw should be a correct result,” he said, speaking after Avramovic.

“I am very disappointed as we came prepared and we have good quality. We came here to win, and if you asked me before the match, a draw wouldn’t have been enough for me.”

He had praise for Shahril Ishak, saying, “I feel that #17 (Shahril) is a good player. He caused many problems for us on the right for our back line.”

With the win, Singapore now have three points and are second in Group E behind Iran who drew 0-0 with Thailand. Thailand are third with two points while Jordan are last with one.