Singapore beat Lebanon to breathe life into World Cup qualifying campaign

Story and pictures by Leslie Tan

Aleksandar Duric scoring Singapore’s first goal after a deflected shot by Shi Jiayi falls nicely for him with only the Lebanese keeper to beat. (Photo © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)

National Stadium, Wednesday, March 26, 2008 – A well-organised and superior Singapore beat Lebanon 2-0 this evening to get their World Cup qualifying campaign back on course after having lost their opening away game 0-2 to Saudi Arabia in Riyadh.

Aleksandar Duric and Faizul Nawaz scored both goals in the first half in a game that saw Singapore miss chance after chance with Faizul Nawaz and Shahril Ishak missing four good opportunities between them, leaving the fans shaking their hands and groaning in disappointment.

In front of a deflatingly small crowd of just over 10,000, Singapore got on the score sheet as early as the 8th minute when a shot by Shi Jiayi deflected off a Lebanese defender and fell kindly in front of Aleksandar Duric. The evergreen 38-year-old had the simplest of tasks of blasting it past the hapless Lary Mehanna who was keeping goal for Lebanon.

Duric then showed his ability to hold the ball and heads-up play when he held off a Lebanese defender and laid the ball nicely into the path of Faizul Nawaz just inside the penalty box but Faizul fluffed his chance. Then came the miss of the game when Baihakki Khaizan drove a ball back across the penalty box behind the Lebanese defense caught cold moving upfield. Faizul found himself all alone just inside the 6-yard box as the ball came across to him but with the keeper rooted to the spot and ball-watching, Faizul somehow contrived to side foot the ball over the bar from 2 metres out, when it seemed easier to score.

In the 23rd minute, Faizul finally made amends for his misses when he found himself just inside the right edge of the Lebanese penalty box. With the defender holding back and not committing his tackle, Faizul aimed for the far corner. The ball took a deflection off the defender and fell beyond the outstretched arms of Mehanna to drop into goal for a 2-0 Singapore lead.

For the rest of the first half, it was Lebanon that took the game to Singapore but Singapore’s cohesive defensive display shut the door tightly and the Lebanese never seriously threatened. Lionel Lewis then got an undeserved yellow card from referee Takayama Hiroyoshi when the ball boy’s attempt to send the ball back to Lionel fell short and bounced back off the advertising board. Somehow, the referee did not realise this was going on and by the time Lionel got the ball and readied himself for the kick, the referee had had enough and flashed him a yellow card from the centre circle, leaving the 26-year-old Lionel more than a little upset.

Khairul Amri came on for Fazrul Nawaz in the second half and his inclusion saw him create two clear chances that went begging. Amri found enough space on the right side to send a pass screaming across the penalty box that Duric slid in to onnect with but it went just wide. Then Amri, again on the right side, found substitute Shahril Ishak open inside the penalty box. Laying on a nice pass, all Ishak had to do was pull the trigger but somehow he could not connect cleanly and made a mess of it, with the ball hitting first his right leg and then his left before rolling out of touch.

With Duric hitting the post after being put through by Indra and Shi Jiayi also lighting up the game with a long-range scorcher that was headed for the bottom right corner that the Lebanese keeper did well to keep out, fans were left wondering if the team would score again the second half.

While Lebanon threw on two substitutes who proved a handful, they never seriously threatened the Singapore goal and the Singapore team were happy enough to play with 10 men behind the ball when not in possession. If any attempts got through, they were weak and easily saved by Lionel.

With the clock ticking down, Shi Jiayi laid on a pass for Mustafic Fahrudin who hit a scorcher that was smartly saved by Mehanna, leaving the Singaporean Serb pounding the turf in frustration.

Captain Indra Sahdan had a quiet game with one clear headed chance in the first half which he sent over the bar and was replaced part way through the second half by Shahril Ishak.

Singapore did the business tonight to breath life into their qualifying campaign but their inability to finish off their chances may prove their undoing in the future.

Uzbekistan scored three goals in 21 minutes to beat Saudi Arabia 3-0 in Tashkent to go top of Singapore’s qualifying group. Singapore now lie second while Saudi Arabia slipped to third.

Singapore lineup:

Lionel Lewis (GK, #18)
Daniel Bennett (#16)
Emuejeraye Precious (#6)
Baihakki Khaizan (#3)
Modh Noh Bin Rahman (#5)
Shi Jiayi (#7)
John Wilkinson (#14)
Mustafic Fahrudin (#15)
Fazrul Nawaz (#8) – sub: Khairul Amri (#13)
Aleksandar Duric (#9)
Indra Sahdan (Capt, #10) – sub: Shahril Ishak (#17)

Fazrul Nawaz looks on in anticipation and eventually sees his deflected shot off the Lebanese defender fall into the net for Singapore’s second goal. (Photo © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)

Lionel Lewis gathers a shot easily. He was relatively undisturbed throughout the evening and the only annoyance was the yellow card he received just before the end of the first half when the referee did not see the ball boy’s incompetent attempts to get the ball back to Lionel quickly and thought the Singapore keeper was trying to waste time. (Photo © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)

Shahril Ishak with an attempt at goal that was charged down in the penalty box. Shahril came on as a substitute for captain Indra Sahdan but was not composed in front of goal and missed two good chances to score. (Photo © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)