SEA GAMES 2011: YOUNG LIONS MAUL THAIS BUT SEMIS DREAM DEPENDS ON LAST GROUP TIE

SENAYAN (17 Nov 2011) – The Young Lions handed Thailand their third defeat in Group A and in the process keep alive their hopes of squeezing into the semifinals. With their stunning 2-0 win at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium today, Singapore now have seven points but are behind Malaysia in the standings due to goal difference.

Singapore will now have to pray that Indonesia defeat defending champions Malaysia in the next match tonight by four clear goals to make the grade. Malaysia need a draw against group leaders Indonesia to finish second and move on to the semifinals.

For Thailand, who have failed to make the semifinals for the second successive edition of the SEA Games, the loss to Singapore was a bitter pill to swallow. They had suffered earlier losses to Indonesia and Malaysia to miss out on the semis but their hopes of finishing the tournament with a win failed to materialise after they were outplayed by Singapore.

In today’s match, the Young Lions displayed excellent temperament throughout and could have actually won by a bigger margin had their strikers been sharper. Still, the win was a great one and they have Quak Jun Yi and Safirul Sulaiman for scoring in the dying minute of each half.

From the start, the Thais were the ones to take the fight to their opponents, with the likes Isarapong Lilakom, Pokklaw A-Nan and star striker Ronnachai Rangsiyo all taking cracks at the Singapore goal. Their desire to make amends forced them to push forward but the Singapore defenders combined well to shut out the Thais.

Singapore launched quick counter-attacks and in the last minute Jun Yi, after being set-up by skipper Harris Harun, chested the ball down, slipped past his marker and sent Singapore ahead.

It was very much the same story in the second half as the Thais continued to maintain the bigger share of possession. But again, the Young Lions broke away to try and score. As the game progressed and with Thailand becoming increasingly desperate, they pushed up in numbers which created gaps in their defence which Singapore exploited.

Muhammad Fazil Ayob and Jun Yi did well to break through the defence and could have finished off the Thais but they were off the mark. Finally, in the 87^th minute, Safirul delivered a stunning goal when he lobbed over a rooted Thai keeper Ukrit Wongmeema.

SEA GAMES FIXTURES
GROUP A

CURRENT STANDINGS