A tough title defence for Lions

A tough title defence for Lions

AFF SUZUKI CUP

They had to dig deep to win two years ago, and Singapore's mission to defend their ASEAN Football Federation Suzuki Cup title this year will be no walk in the park, with the road out of the opening group stages already filled with potential pitfalls.

The tournament will be held from Nov 22 to Dec 20 and Singapore will co-host the group stages with Vietnam.

In yesterday's draw in Hanoi, the Lions were drawn in Group B, and will face three-time winners Thailand, Causeway rivals Malaysia and the winners of the qualifying tournament (held in October featuring Timor Leste, Cambodia, Laos, Brunei and Myanmar).

With the Radojko Avramovic-led Myanmar touted as favourites to win the qualifiers, Safuwan Baharudin, who was watching the draw "live" from a hotel in Bahrain where he is on duty with the national Under-23 side, simply said: "Group of Death."

Safuwan's defensive partner, Baihakki Khaizan, acknowledged the arduous task that lies ahead.

"It's a tough draw. We respect the teams in our group, but we can focus only on our preparations," he told The New Paper.

"We have shown in the past that we are not an individual bunch, but we can win it as a team."

Both Safuwan and Baihakki were key figures as former Singapore coach Avramovic led the Lions to glory in 2012, when they defeated Thailand over the two legs of the final.

The win meant Singapore became the first nation to win ASEAN's most prestigious football tournament four times (1998, 2004, 2007 and 2012)

NEW HOME

The Singapore team won the first leg 3-1 at the Jalan Besar Stadium (they lost the second tie in Bangkok 1-0), but will now be playing their matches at the new 55,000-capacity National Stadium at Kallang.

Baihakki is already looking forward to stepping out onto the pitch at the National Stadium with the roar of a huge home crowd behind the Lions.

"We are playing at our new stadium and it's a big privilege for us. We want to show our pride and do well in front of our crowd. We all know the pressure, but we'll cope it positively," he said.

Singapore were scheduled to host Malaysia at the National Stadium in a friendly initially scheduled for next month, then pencilled in for Nov 15.

But, after yesterday's draw throwing both sides in the same group, that fixture will now be postponed to after the end of the Suzuki Cup.

In response to TNP queries, Football Association of Singapore (FAS) director of marketing and communications, Gerard Wong, said: "The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) had suggested Nov 15. However, the venue is not available on that date.

"Following today's Suzuki Cup draw, FAM proposed that both organisations look for another date for the friendly after the tournament, and we have agreed to it.

"We will make an announcement once we confirm the details."

National coach Bernd Stange remained confident that his team will be ready for their title defence.

"Our preparations for the Suzuki Cup, such as our recent training tour to Austria, have gone well. The players know what I expect of them, they are getting more familiar with the style of football I want them to display, and we are slowly getting there," the German said, in a statement.

"The team are made up of young players, who are all hungry for success and are proud to represent the country."

The 66-year-old, though, will do his homework over what he calls dangerous opponents in Thailand, Malaysia, and even the winners of the qualifiers.

"There are no easy teams in South-east Asia, so (fans) can rest assured that we will be working closely with the relevant authorities and stakeholders to ensure that we have all our best players available to defend the title, and that I will be picking the strongest team available to me for every match," Stange added.


 

GROUP A

Vietnam

Philippines

Indonesia

Qualifiers runners-up

GROUP B

Singapore

Malaysia

Thailand

Qualifiers winners

SINGAPORE FIXTURES

Nov 23: v Thailand

Nov 26: v Qualifiers

Winners Nov 29: v Malaysia


This article was first published on August 6, 2014.
Get The New Paper for more stories.

This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.