That was an amazing match... the last part of it turned what was
othewise a one-sided affair into a nail-biting thing.
In all fairness the Thais are the more skillful team with more
firepower, however their defence has always been their weak point,
and eventually it cost them the match.
While the Elephant had the Lion more or less trampled during the
duration of the match, all the Lions needed to do was to survive
the relentless assualt and get in the fatal shot at the right
moment, and it paid off. The way the Thais played was extremely
offensive but it made them weak on the countereffect, kinda like a
fighter overextending himself with damaging but high-risk
attacks... and eventually the Lions managed to counter one of the
strikes for a critical blow.
Well played, the Lions were not the more dominating or skillful
team, but it's no small feat that they managed to hold off a
superior opponent and even trump them in the end. The Thais also
gave it their all and should not be blamed for their loss... things
just didn't go their way. While they were more skillful, they knew
that they had to avoid a penalty shootout as Singapore had the
advantage there...
So in the end it was a coin flip if the Singaporeans could hold off
the relentless Thai attack and get a critical one of their own
in... and in the end I guess we had a defence that while was
crumbling, held up until the whistle and managed to finish off
rather difficult goals from virtually unsupported strikers. The
Thais had the firepower and an all out attack while we were relying
on sniper attacks while holding off the Elephant charge. In the end
I guess we just managed to pull it off.
So very well done Lions!
