STILL ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT: AVRAMOVIC

And Avramovic (pic) was wise not to read too much into the win where he feels that Singapore’s passing game as well as shooting was not up to the mark.

“We had the most problems with our passing quality tonight,” said the 57-year-old, who led the Lions to the Asean Football Championship title earlier this year.

“The players gave the ball away too easily with their passes after chasing hard to win it over with two or three men. We have to be more patient and provide more quality with our passes, so that we don’t mess up our easy passes and gift them to our opponents.

“One area we could also work on is shooting from outside the box. Our opponents had the quality to go for shots from outside the box and it was from one of these shots that they eventually got the chance to score their goal.

“I have been telling my players that they should try to shoot from just outside the box, and at least give the opposing goalkeeper a chance to make a save. We can be more active in our effort to go for goals if we dare to take good shots from outside the box.”

A 74th minute header from Indra Sahdan Daud gave Singapore the victory after Ridhuan Muhammad’s 40th minute effort was cancelled out by An Chol-hyok’s equaliser in the 59th minute.

Avramovic admitted that North Korea had players who were physically and technically good and they gave Singapore a hard game.

“I had said before the match that we would be facing good quality players, and that was what happened,” said Avramovic.

Singapore’s next friendly match against Saudi Arabia which was to take place tomorrow at the Jurong West Stadium has been called off although the game against Australia will still be held as scheduled.

The Lions will play Australia on July 1 2007 at the Bishan Stadium with kick-off at 5.30pm.