Kings Cup: Lions felled by Kiatisuk
double
Singapore, playing their second match of the 37th Kings Cup in
Bangkok, had no answer to a Kiatisuk Senamuang brace in the second
half, as they crashed to a 2-0 defeat to Thailand.
The Lions, however, managed to prevent Thailand from inflicting any
significant damage in the first half, with the midfielders from
both teams cancelling each other out in the centre of the
field.
After tearing his interior cruciate ligament in an international
friendly against Malaysia in May, Home United striker Indra Sahdan
played his first international game for the Lions, as they battled
to take the game to the Thais.
Still short of match fitness, Indra could only play out the first
45 minutes.
The red mist descended on the Lions in the second half when
Tampines Rovers stalwart Mustafic Fahrudin was given his marching
orders by the referee, leaving Singapore to play out the rest of
the match with 10 men.
The numerical advantage was pivotal for the hosts as they set out
to claim victory, and Zico was on the end of things, scoring
twice in the 58th and 70th minute to help his side to the
win.
To make matters worst, Senamuang, who formerly played for S.League
side SAFFC, injured Lions custodian Lionel Lewis, as he attempted
to score the second goal his knee striking the chest of Lewis,
leaving him in a semi-conscious state.
Singapore team manager Eugene Loo confirmed that Lewis had suffered
a concussion to the chest, and would be ruled out for the Lions
final game against Vietnam on Thursday.
Nevertheless, Loo felt that the players managed to put up a
positive display in the first half, and remains optimistic that
Singapore has what it takes to get a result against Vietnam.
He said: I thought that the team did well in the first half, until
Mustafic (Fahrudin) was sent off in the second half. However, I
believe that were capable of getting a result against Vietnam on
Thursday.
Indra, on the other hand, was delighted to make his first
competitive international appearance, after recovering from his
horrific injury only recently.
Although we lost to Thailand today, I thought that we played well
together and shown good understanding as a team. I believe I have a
bit more to go in regaining my match fitness, but its definitely
great to be playing again, he added.
Singapore Starting Line-up: Lionel Lewis (Fadhil
Salim 67), S. Subramani, Aide Iskandar, Precious Emuejeraye, Daniel
Bennett, Ridhuan Muhammad (Sazali Salleh 85), Noh Rahman (Shahril
Ishak 6
, Mustafic Fahrudin, Shi Jiayi, Indra Sahdan
(Ashrin Shariff 46), Masrezwan Matsuri (Fazrul Nawaz 46)
