Asean Football Championship: Singapore Champion
Singapore successfully defended its crown in the Asean Football Championship a few hours ago.
Singapore was leading the final after winning the 1st leg of the final with a 2-1 win at Kallang Stadium, Singapore 5 days ago. Going into the match well prepared and with almost the full squad to choose from, coach Abrahamovich chose to play cautiously with the player selection. Indra Shahdan, Singapore golden boy, was left out of the squad because of injury before the match.
The 2nd leg played at Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok Thailand saw a full capacity. Even the Thai King came to watch this match.
The match started brightly, however, the first real chance came when Sharil Ishak put the ball into Thailands goal. Nevertheless, his joy was short lived as the tournament MVP and top scorer Noh Alam Shah was ruled off side by Indonesian referee Jimmy Napitupulu before the ball fell to Ishak.
Thailand cancelled Singapore’s lead in the tie through Pipat Thonkanya when he received a delightful chip from Datsakorn from just outside of the penalty box. Thonkanya controlled the ball superbly with his head wrong footed Singapore’s captain Aide Iskandar before slotting the ball pass Lionel Lewis.
Thailand had a couple of chances during the match. In the second half, they were denied by poor finishing and a fantastic last ditch goal line clearance by Singapore’s Noh Rahman after Suchao Nutnum looks set to increase Thailand lead in the match.
Khairul Amri came off the bench to struck a powerful shot just outside the penalty box in the 81st minute to leave Thailand’s goalkeeper and captain for the night, Kittisak Rawangpa, stranded.
Overall, it was an entertaining 2 legged final with both team playing fast pace and wonderful game. Singapore won the tie with 3-2 aggregate and was crowned ASEAN champion onces again! Kudos to Singapore TEAM!
