SINGAPORE (2 July 2012) – The Under-15 team of AFC Ajax were crowned champions of the Lion City Cup 2012 following their 4-1 win over the Singapore NFA U16 team in the final that was played last night at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
“We are very, very happy. I think the boys did a great achievement. I think we deserved to win,” said Frank Peereboom, the chief coach of AFC Ajax U15 team.
Despite creating the early chance for Singapore through Adam Swandi, it was the visiting Ajax side who went ahead in the 26th minute when Vince Dekker floated in the cross for Ezra Walian to nod the ball home. The score at the half was 1-0 for Ajax.
Ajax started stronger into the second half and in the 54th minute, Abdelhak Nouri’s chipped in the ball into an empty net past Singapore keeper Heirul Suhanes for their second goal.
In the 74th minute, Ezra Walian then put Ajax comfortably 3-0 in front before Mahathir Azeman pulled a goal back for Singapore two minutes later.
But that was to be the only bright spark from the home team as Ajax then made sure of the crown with their fourth goal of the game through substitute Adham El Idrissi in the very last minute of play.
“It’s a hard way to learn from your mistake. We knew everything about Ajax, and we tried to prevent them from using space and passing. Unfortunately we conceded an easy goal and had to push forward, which allowed them to punish us,” said Dejan Glusevic, the chief coach of the Singapore NFA U16 team.
In the meantime, the Singapore Under-22 team held the Singapore Armed Forces FC (SAFFC) to a scoreless draw in their last friendly before their participation in the AFC Under-22 qualifiers later in the week.
The Singapore side is in Group E against Australia, Japan, Indonesia, Macau and Timor Leste. They will play all their matches in Pekanbaru in Indonesia with the first game in the group on 5 July 2012.
