SINGAPORE (26 June 2012) – The Singapore NFA Under-16 team made sure of their place in the semi-finals of the 24th Lion City Cup when they held FC Porto to a scoreless draw. With the one point, the homesters have picked up four points from two matches.
In the match that was played at the Jalan Besar Stadium, both teams started off slowly although it was FC Porto who first threatened the opposing goal when in the seventh minute, Tiago Couto’s drive struck the underside of the crossbar.
Singapore replied with a low shot from defender, R Aaravin which went just wide of the goal-mouth. The score at the end of the first half was all square.
The Portuguese side came close again at the hour mark when Leandro Ribeiro’s shot from outside the penalty box, forced a finger-tip save from Heirul Suhanes.
“FC Porto, in my opinion, is one of the best teams in the tournaments. They are technically and tactically sound and gave us a good match,” said Dejan Gluscevic the chief coach of Singapore.
“This is a learning process for the young boys, and good exposure for them. My boys tried very hard but the Singapore goalkeeper was outstanding and he was the deserved recipient the Man-of-the-Match title,” said Antonio Folha, the chief coach of FC Porto.
In an earlier match, Manchester City FC beat CR Vasco Da Gama 2-0.
