FIFA ASEAN Cup: Against Bangladesh, Lions look to restore momentum after Indonesia defeat

JAKARTA - Expectations around the Lions have risen over the past few months, and Gavin Lee is not looking to temper them after Singapore's 2-0 defeat by Indonesia last Friday (Sept 25).

Instead, the national team head coach wants his players to keep giving supporters reasons to believe.

"It's good that people expect us to beat Indonesia with their full squad as well," said Lee during the Lions' training session at the FIFA ASEAN CUP on Sunday.

"That's great. It's on us to go out there and do it.

"Unfortunately, we couldn't deliver that. Internally, we spoke about it. Our job is to keep going out there to put up performances that give the people something to be proud of.

"Hopefully, with more evidence in front of them, we are not just dependent on a single result."

World number 146 Singapore will face 182-ranked Bangladesh on Monday in their second Group A match.

The Lions have shown recently that they can respond after setbacks. A month ago, they travelled to Bangkok needing to overturn a 3-1 first-leg deficit against Thailand in the ASEAN Championship semi-finals.

They won the return leg 2-1 at the Rajamangala Stadium, their first victory over Thailand in almost 14 years, though it ultimately was not enough on aggregate.

That campaign, which also saw Singapore hold Indonesia 1-1 to reach the semi-finals, helped Lee's side turn what he described then as "a few doubters into believers".

The challenge now is to keep that momentum going after another difficult night.

@asiaone Lions head coach Gavin Lee emphasised that representing Singapore goes beyond single results, pushing his squad to build long-term belief ahead of their next match against Bangladesh on Sept 28 (Mon). #sgnews #Singapore #Football #FIFAASEANCup #Sports ♬ original sound - AsiaOne

Last Friday, Singapore fell behind to Ragnar Oratmangoen's first-half goal before Safuwan Baharudin was sent off following a VAR review with about 20 minutes remaining.

To compound the misery, Indonesia won a penalty from the resulting free-kick, which Ole Romeny converted to seal a 2-0 victory for the hosts.

The result left the Lions third in the group after the opening round of matches. Malaysia lead with three points after beating Bangladesh 3-0.

Only the group winners advance to the final, while the runners-up contest the bronze-medal match.

Singapore conclude their group campaign against Malaysia in Bandung on Oct 1.

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That leaves little room for either Singapore or Bangladesh to stumble again.

Bangladesh coach Thomas Dooley was unhappy with how his side retreated in their loss to Malaysia and wants to see a more assertive team on Monday.

"We need to play with a different mindset, a different attitude, and I want to win the game. There's no question," he said.

"I don't care about how many [ranks] they are above us. We need to play football."

Dooley felt his side dropped too deep against Malaysia and wants his players to put greater pressure on both the ball and their opponents.

"We need to dictate the game," he said.

"We need to be focusing on how we want to play, not looking too much on the other team."

Singapore beat Bangladesh 2-1 in Dhaka in June 2025 before edging them 1-0 at the National Stadium in March to complete their Asian Cup qualifying campaign unbeaten.

Dooley believes the two recent scorelines showed there is little separating the teams.

"The last two times were very tight," he said.

"Those two games we could have won also. So that means they're even."

Bangladesh had arrived in Indonesia targeting at least four points from the tournament. Their opening defeat meant Dooley now thinks that target is out of reach, but he wants three points from the upcoming match.

"Against Singapore, that's what we were aiming for," he said.

For Singapore, the short group stage also raises the question of whether the margin of victory should enter their calculations.

With Malaysia and Indonesia already on three points, the race for both a place in the final and the bronze-medal play-off remains tight.

"We chase the performance and not the result," he said.

"We believe that the result will follow the performance that we put out there."

The Lions have had only two full days to recover between matches, with their clash against Bangladesh kicking off at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium at 5pm Singapore time.

The match will be streamed live on Mewatch.

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shafiq.apandi@asiaone.com