AFF Suzuki Cup: Defending champs Singapore crash out after 1–3 loss to Malaysia

Ismadi Mukhtar (#13) of Singapore shares a moment with Singaporean fans after his team went down 1–3 to Malaysia. (Photo 1 © Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports)

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National Stadium, Saturday, November 29, 2014 — The largest crowd to date of 48,183 endured an emotional roller-coaster, eventually stunned into silence as they saw Singapore go down 1–3 to Malaysia in the ASEAN Football Championship (AFF Suzuki Cup).

The loss meant Singapore, the defending champions, failed to make it to the semi-finals with the first all-local team since 2000.

Tied 0–0 at half time, Malaysia’s Mohd Safee (#10), left unmarked by Singapore’s Shaiful Esah (#3), had all the time in the world to take down a cross from Amri Yahyah (#17) in the 61st minute to blast a shot past an exposed Hassan Sunny (#18) in the Singapore goal.

This triggered an immediate double substitution by Singapore head coach Bernd Stange, with Gabriel Quak (#7) and Hafiz Sujad (#28) in for Fazrul Nawaz (#10) and Shaiful Esah respectively.

Gabriel’s introduction had an immediate effect. A cross from Gabriel found Safuwan (#21), who was now playing in an advanced position. Safuwan’s header down found Faris Ramli (#11) but the winger put it straight at the Malaysian keeper.

Another thrusting Gabriel Quak run in the 81st minute saw the ball cleared out only as far as Khairul Amri (#19) but Khairul’s shot went straight into the arms of the Malaysian keeper.

The goal the home fans were looking for finally arrived in the 83rd minute. Safuwan was hauled down just outside the Malaysian box and the defender stood up to take the free kick. Malaysia’s Khairul Fahmi (#22) saved Safuwan’s initial shot but it spilled loose. Khairul Amri was first to the rebound and swept it in to make it 1–1.

A draw was enough and Singapore’s semi-final hopes were alive again.

Then came the call that left the home crowd enraged in the 90th minute.

With the full 90 minutes showing on the video screen, the referee saw a foul in the penalty box that the home fans did not see, and Safiq Rahim (#8) stepped up to slot home the penalty to start the celebrations for the vocal away fans.

With four minutes of added time, goalkeeper Hassan Sunny came up for a Singapore corner. Hassan tried to connect with a header but Khairul Fahmi punched clear.

In a swift counter attack, Malaysian substitute Indra Putra (#13) rolled the ball into an empty net to complete the humiliation and misery.

Malaysian coach Dollah Salleh was all praise for his team. He said, “The players never gave up, they fought. They knew that after one goal, they could still fight for the win. I’m proud of all the players that never gave up even though the game was at 1–1, and we managed to get it back at the last minute.”

Salleh added, “There’s something special with Indra Putra (#13), as we changed our strategy and included him. He scored the goal at the last minute, giving the senior players a chance to show the younger players that they deserve to be in the team. And Singapore lost two key players, that’s why we had an advantage.”

Singapore’s coach Bernd Stange said, “When the game was tied, we knew it was going to be tough for us. We did not manage to present the next highlight, which was what we wanted. We feel very, very sorry for fantastic fans that we could not deliver more. It’s a young team with a bright future, and we’re looking forward for the next campaign. I’m not so disappointed with the performance. Of course, there is a deep disappointment with the results tonight, but we have to move on from here.”

On the team’s performance, Stange said, “I have to prize my team for the attitude and the commitment. They were a little bit tired, and we have to improve on that. Fitness is daily work. We lack a little bit of backbone in our team. We had this backbone 2-3 years ago with our foreign players.

“The game is faster and faster, you see teams like Vietnam, and Thailand, how quick and how fast they are. It’s a young man’s game, there is no reason to take in players aged 30 and above. A younger team would be better. Part of our strategy plan is to rebuild the national team and we have to work very hard in developing the youth here in Singapore.”

“The players need a little more confidence to be more comfortable with the ball and play long balls. That’s a process. We change our style to play football according to the international tendency. We are still working to play with long balls. That’s why it takes time for results to show,” added Stange.

In the other group game, Thailand defeated Myanmar 2–0 and will advance to the semi-final along with Malaysia.

Singapore Lineup

Hassan Sunny (#18), Shakir Hamzah (#2), Shaiful Esah (#3) (Hafiz Sujad (#28)), Safuwan Baharudin (#21), Ismadi Mukhtar (#13), Hariss Harun (#14), Shahril Ishak (#17), Faris Ramli (#11), Fazrul Nawaz (#10) (Gabriel Quak (#7), Khairul Amri (#19), Shahfiq Ghani (#26) (Amirul Adli (#12))

Malaysia Lineup

Khairul Fahmi (#22), Mahalli Jasuli (#4), Safiq Rahim (#8), Norshahrul Idlan Talaha (#9), Mohd Safee (#10), Shukor Adan (#12, C), Gary Robbat (#15), Amri Yahyah (#17), Azammuddin Mohd Akil (#19), Zubir Azmi (#21), Muslim Ahmad (#24)

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