No hearts, no smarts

No hearts, no smarts

SINGAPORE- They showed off captain marvel Hariss Harun, boasted one of the best centre backs in the region in Safuwan Baharudin, and had talented goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud as the last line of defence.

Their target for this South-east Asia (SEA) Games was a place in the final.

Many in the local fraternity felt they were even good enough to win Singapore's first gold medal in men's football at the Games.

After an insipid performance against Laos in their opening Group A encounter last night at the Zayar Thiri Stadium in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, Aide Iskandar's men are in trouble.

The U-23s could only come away with a 1-1 draw despite playing almost the entire match with a one-man advantage, after Saison Khounsamnan was sent off for a high challenge on Shahfiq Ghani after just 90 seconds.

"We let ourselves down," admitted coach Aide Iskandar, after the game. "We should have defended the set-piece better and we didn't deserve to win."

When Sahil Suhaimi fired in a lovely left-footed effort in the 27th-minute, after expertly being put through by Shahfiq, it looked like the perfect springboard for the Singapore side to go on and post a confidence-boosting win, especially after group rivals Vietnam had sounded out a warning with a 7-0 thumping of Brunei earlier.

AWRY

But, when it came to the crunch, the Singapore U-23s crumbled.

Wires got crossed, passes went astray, their wingplay was ineffective and there was hardly any creativity in their build-up play.

Hariss and Sahil blazed over from good scoring positions in either half after good build-up play.

Even worse, their much-vaunted defence went to sleep four minutes from time and were punished when Khouantan Sivongthong headed in the equaliser off a free-kick to send the 6,000 fans, who were cheering for the underdogs, into raptures.

Captain Hariss cut a despondent figure after the game.

"There's nothing much we can say. It's very obvious we have to look at ourselves. We needed to be better but we weren't and now we need to improve," he said.

With Vietnam up next tomorrow, Aide admitted there would be no room for errors if they are to progress to the semi-finals from a group that also includes two-time defending champions Malaysia.

"It is my responsibility to pick up the team's morale," said Aide.

"The players are professional and they have a job to do. It won't be easy because Vietnam are a good side but we must bounce back for three points.

"We are not going to rule ourselves out now. We are good enough to beat Vietnam."


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