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Lions show signs of improvement under new coach despite 1-2 friendly loss to Myanmar

Singapore's Irwan Shah (right) and Myanmar's Si Thu Aung battle for possession during their international friendly at National Stadium. (PHOTO: Zainal Yahya/Yahoo News Singapore)
Singapore's Irwan Shah (right) and Myanmar's Si Thu Aung battle for possession during their international friendly at National Stadium. (PHOTO: Zainal Yahya/Yahoo News Singapore)

SINGAPORE — The scoreline might have shown a 1-2 defeat, but the Singapore national football team put on a far better performance in Tuesday’s (11 June) friendly against Myanmar at the National Stadium than their 4-3 win over Solomon Islands last Saturday.

New Lions coach Tatsuma Yoshida, in his second match in charge, said as much after the match, “The only disappointment was the result.”

For even though the Japanese coach experimented with a new line-up and switched several formations during the match, the Lions showed that they could adapt well to his high-pressing, possession-based strategy.

Gone were the frequent sloppy passes and lacklustre defending that plagued their tie against the Solomon Islands. For several stretches of Tuesday’s game, they managed to hound the Myanmar players high up the pitch and pinned them back at their own half.

Yet, while there were glimpses of nifty one-touch passing in midfield, the Lions attack still broke down far too often for their fans’ liking.

If only they had Myanmar’s speedy strike duo of Aung Thu and Kyaw Ko Ko, who took advantage of the only two lapses in the Lions’ defence to score the goals for the confidence-boosting victory.

Enough potential to build on

Nonetheless, Yoshida believes he has seen enough potential among his players to build on before the Lions’ next games – the World Cup 2022 qualifiers in September.

“Between now and the World Cup qualifiers, I hope I can add more players to the first team, either from the Singapore Premier League or from the Young Lions,” he said.

“They need to show they can take on our playing concept quickly. But I’m positive we can continue to make improvements and hopefully be able to put on a good performance in the World Cup qualifiers.”

Singapore striker Khairul Amri is tackled from behind by a Myanmar defender during their international friendly at the National Stadium (PHOTO: Zainal Yahya/Yahoo News Singapore)
Singapore striker Khairul Amri is tackled from behind by a Myanmar defender during their international friendly at the National Stadium (PHOTO: Zainal Yahya/Yahoo News Singapore)

Unfamiliar personnel and formations

Yoshida opted to bench captain Hariss Harun as well as key midfielders Shahdan Sulaiman and Adam Swandi, starting the match with second-string national players such as Fadli Kamis, Irwan Shah and Huzaifah Aziz.

He also tried a two-man strike force of Faris Ramli and Gabriel Quak, instead of playing Faris as a lone striker in the Solomon Islands match.

Perhaps it was due to the unfamiliar personnel and formations that Lions were slow to settle down at the start of the match, which was played in front of a crowd of 5,178.

Myanmar, on the other hand, were buzzing from the start, full of eager running and robust challenges. And they struck first with their first attack in the fifth minute.

A Lions build-up broke down, and immediately Aung Thu sped down the left flank. He crossed for Kyaw Ko Ko, who controlled the ball, spun around and whipped a low shot past Hassan Sunny, to the delighted roar of the Myanmar fans.

Myanmar striker Kyaw Ko Ko (left) celebrates his second goal against Singapore in their international friendly match at the National Stadium. (PHOTO: Zainal Yahya/Yahoo News Singapore)
Myanmar striker Kyaw Ko Ko (left) celebrates his second goal against Singapore in their international friendly match at the National Stadium. (PHOTO: Zainal Yahya/Yahoo News Singapore)

To the Lions’ credit, they did not get flustered after the early setback. Instead, they hunkered down to play their style of football, slowly but surely pinning their opponents back in their own half.

And they found their equaliser in the 25th minute with commendable patience and resilience. Huzaifah received the ball from Quak in central midfield, held the ball long enough for Quak to sprint through a crack in the Myanmar defence, and timed his pass superbly to send his teammate free of the defence line.

Quak’s initial shot was blocked by Kyaw Zin Htet, but he reacted quickest to the deflection to slot into an empty goal.

Inability to find penetrative passes

Buoyed by their breakthrough, the Lions began to press hard, nipping in for crisp tackles before the Myanmar midfielders could figure out their next passes.

Yet their inability to regularly find the penetrative pass to break down Myanmar’s defence meant that the visitors were able to absorb the pressure and wait for the right time to release either Aung Thu or Kyaw Ko Ko.

And the right time came in the 67th minute, when a stray pass was fortuitously deflected into the path of Kyaw Ko Ko, who calmly raced past the Lions defence and score his second goal.

The Lions then came close to equalising on a couple of occasions, with substitute striker Khairul Amri coming closest with a glancing header that went inches wide. But it was Myanmar who eventually sent their fans home happy.

Related stories:

Lions stutter to narrow victory over Solomon Islands, new coach says plenty of work to do

New coach Tatsuma Yoshida wants Lions to 'work hard together and smile together'