Once again, we witnessed how football can be so unpredictable. Scary and helpless in this minute, and a happy celebration the very next minute. Singapore came from 2 goals down to beat Laos 4-3 in the final AFF Suzuki Cup 2012 group-B game last evening at Shah Alam Stadium, to secure a semi-final spot against Philippines!
Due to suspension and injuries, Singapore midfielder, Shi Jiayi (no-7) was forced to play as right-back which we could see his uncomfortableness. Especially after seeing the improved Laotians taking a 2 goals lead, Coach Raddy made a crucial tactical change by bringing in Shaiful Esah (no-3) and Khairul Amri (no-19) to replace Qiu Li (no-11) and Daniel Bennett (no-16) respectively near half time. And that proved to be one of the most effective tactical changes ever for the Singapore coach in this AFF Suzuki Cup campaign.
Captain Shahril Ishak scored his first in this game in 45th minute with a header assistance by Safuwan Baharudin (no-21). In fact, this is not the first time we are seeing Safuwan being instructed to move up to the six-yard box to provide aerial ammunition. This has always been one of the usual tactical moves for him in Lions XII which saw him banging in some crucial goals. Captain Shahril was on the headline again, scoring his second of the night, an equalizer, a calm, well-taken goal in the 53rd minute to level the score at 2-2! That goal made him the top scorer of AFF Suzuki Cup 2012 as of now.
Next, Khairul Amri marked his return to the AFF Suzuki Cup with a goal just outside the penalty box to give Singapore the well-deserved lead in the 63rd minute! That goal was a cracker! Gave Lao’s custodian no chance at all!
Two minutes later, Shaiful Esah took full advantage of Laotian’s defence which couldn’t cope with floating balls into their six-yard box as we could see throughout the game. He swung a cross high and deep into Laotian custodian’s area, looking for an on-running Fazrul Nawaz (no-10) who connected well and scored with a brillant driving header to change the scoreline on the scoreboard to 4-2!
In the 81st minute, the HongKong referee gave a soft penalty decision to Laos and Laos scored from the spot to make it 3-4. Singapore held on to the 1 goal difference till the final whistle. Singapore is through to the semi-final which will see them play against Philippines in a home and away format games.
Well, Singapore certainly deserved the victory and the games ahead are going to be extremely tough. Especially losing to Philippines in the friendlies last month, Coach Raddy has got some work to do. However, credit can’t be taken away from Singapore. Compared to the first game against Malaysians, this is definitely a hard-fought team victory for Singapore. No other explanation.
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