NAYPYITAW (11 Dec 2013) – Singapore coach Aide Iskandar said that they totally deserved the win over Vietnam last night and that luck had no part to play in it.
The young Lions squad put their campaign in Group A of the men’s football event at the SEA Games back on track with Sahil Suhaimi delivering the only goal of the game in the second half.
The team had battled to a 1-1 draw against Laos in their first match of the tournament two days earlier and needed the full points to make sure that they remained in contention.
“I don’t think that luck had a part to play (in the win). We went into the match with a game plan and the lads worked hard throughout the 90 minutes,” said Aide.
“We were disciplined in defending and Vietnam as you can see pressed us very hard. They had a lot of chances but we stood our ground and then we scored the goal.
“To say that it was lucky would be a little unfair to the players who have been working very, very hard.”
Singapore, whose best achievements at the SEA Games were the several silver medals that picked up in 1983, 1985 and 1989, are determined to take home the gold medal this time round.
And considering that they will be the hosts of the next SEA Games in 2015, winning the men’s football event will go a long way into creating a euphoria for the biennial championship in two year’s time.
But for the moment, Singapore are basking in the momentary glory of being Group A leaders where after two matches, they have picked four points – one more than Vietnam and Malaysia.
“For the time being, let the players savour this moment,” he quipped.
