SINGAPORE (3 April 2014) – An early goal from Shahfiq Ghani in the first half failed to drive Singapore Under-23 to a home win when they fell to a 2-1 loss to their Indonesian counterparts at the Hougang Stadium last night.
Captain Shahfiq found the back of net in the 35th minute when he a curled in a free kick past a hapless Indonesian keeper Teguh Amirudin for the home team to take the lead.
But the second half was all Indonesia as substitute Ramdhani Lestaluhu capitalised on a defensive lapse to slot in the equaliser in the 57th minute. And twelve minutes to the end, Dedi Kusnandar fired in a cross from the right for the win.
“It was a good workout for us,” said Singapore U23 coach Aide Iskandar. “This is the first time the team got together and it is also a good chance for me to see who the capable ones are.”
Countered Indonesian coach Aji Santoso: “I was very disappointed with our first half. We were too soft and Singapore are very good in their organizational play. In the second half, I pushed my players to play harder, faster, play more through passes and one-two touches in the attacking third – that’s why we created more chances and won the game.”
