YANGON (15 Sept 2011) – Singapore were held to a 1-1 draw by ten-men Cambodia as Thailand confirmed their place in the semi-finals of the AFF Under-19 Championship 2011 with an easy 5-0 win over the Philippines.
With both Singapore and Cambodia needing to win to brighten their chance of a place in the next round, the heavy downpour sometime before the start of the match affected the quality of play.
Cambodian team manager Ork Samnang lamented the inability of his chargers in sticking to their gameplan.
“We are used to playing short passes but with the pitch being what it was today, we had to play long passes and this I feel gave the advantage to the Singapore team who are physically bigger than the players from Cambodia,” said Ork.
“I feel that our chance of making the semi-final is below 10% as we believe that Malaysia will beat the Philippines in the last game.”
The first half was to say the least drab with both teams taking some time to adjust to the sipper conditions and while the pitch for the most part was playable, there were several water-logged patches that hindered ball movements.
Singapore had two chances to score but on both occasion, Cambodian keeper Aim Sovannarath was equal to the task.
But Cambodia should have gone 1-0 up in the first half but with just Singapore keeper Muhammad Fariq Ghani to beat, Prak Mony Udom blasted the ball out.
“The players showed character after the big defeat to Malaysia and with the 1-1 draw today, I could not have asked for more from the players,” said Mohamad Akbar Abdul Nawas, the chief coach of Singapore
And while Cambodia might have lost Phanny Ratha in the 52nd minute for a foul on Singapore defender Tajeli Salamat, it did not deter them from taking the lead eight minutes later.
Off a cross from Nen Sothearoth, the waiting Rous Samoeun blasted the ball in from the far post.
Credit to Singapore for not losing their composure and after putting several passes together, they finally clinched the equaliser in the 79th minute when Muhammad Nur Naiim Ishak capitalised on a goalmouth melee to score.
With the one point, Cambodia moved up to second with five points while Singapore are fourth with two points.
Meanwhile, at the Aung San Stadium, Thailand confirmed their place in the semi-finals of the championship this year with an easy 5-0 win over the Philippines.
The victory was Thailand’s third following earlier wins over Malaysia and Cambodia.
And this time round, the confident Thais scored twice in the first half off a brace from Chalongchai Pothong (25th and 44th minute) before adding further goals after the break off Jaturong Pimkoon (47th minute), Narubadin Weerawatnodom (79th) and Adison Promrak (81st).
GROUPINGS
Group A: Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia
Group B: Myanmar, Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam, Brunei DS
RESULTS and FIXTURES
8 Sept: LAOS 3 INDONESIA 3 / BRUNEI DS 0 VIETNAM 7
9 Sept: PHILIPPINES 1 SINGAPORE 1 / CAMBODIA 0 MALAYSIA 0
10 Sept: VIETNAM 1 MYANMAR 1 / BRUNEI DS 0 LAOS 7
11 SEPT: MALAYSIA 0 THAILAND 1 / CAMBODIA 5 PHILIPPINES 3
12 Sept: MYANMAR 6 BRUNEI DS 0 / INDONESIA 1 VIETNAM 6
13 Sept: THAILAND 5 CAMBODIA 0 / SINGAPORE 0 MALAYSIA 6
14 Sept: BRUNEI DS 0 INDONESIA 10 / LAOS 0 MYANMAR 1
15 SEPT: CAMBODIA 1 SINGAPORE 1 / PHILIPPINES 0 THAILAND 5
16 Sept: Vietnam vs Laos (1530, Aung San Stadium) / Indonesia vs Myanmar (1530, Youth Training Centre)
17 Sept: Malaysia vs Philippines (1530, Youth Training Centre) / Singapore vs Thailand (1530, Aung San Stadium)
18 Sept: Rest Day
19 Sept: Winner A vs Runner-up B (1530) / Winner B vs Runner-up A (1810)
20 Sept: Rest Day
21 Sept: 3rd/4th Placing (1530) / Final (1810)
TABLE STANDING
Group A
| TEAM |
P |
W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS |
| Thailand | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 9 |
| Cambodia | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 9 | -3 | 5 |
| Malaysia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 4 |
| Singapore | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | -6 | 2 |
| Philippines | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 11 | -7 | 1 |
Group B
| TEAM |
P |
W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS |
| Vietnam | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 12 | 7 |
| Myanmar | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 7 |
| Laos | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
| Indonesia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 4 |
| Brunei DS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 28 | -28 | 0 |
