Guangzhou, Tuesday, November 9, 2010 — Singapore lost 2-0 to a technically superior Kuwait in their Asian Games football Group D game this evening.
Singapore trailed 2-0 at half-time and had an Erwan Gunawan goal disallowed in the 58th minute for offside. However, hopes of a comeback disappeared when Muhd Shakir Hamzah got sent off in the 63rd minute for a second yellow card.
“To concede the early goal was tough and to concede the second before half time was even tougher and it was always going to be an uphill task against a good team like Kuwait,” said Singapore head coach V Sundramoorthy.
Singapore’s best chance fell to Shahril Ishak in the 62nd minute when he was put through on goal. However, Shahril hesitated and the opportunity to shoot with only the goalkeeper to beat disappeared.
Erwan Gunawan then managed to get a shot off on target in the 78th minute but the Kuwaiti keeper saved comfortably.
“We were already 2-0 down and we had nothing to lose. We needed to be a little more adventurous. We created a few more chances and we had a go at them but unfortunately we were not good enough. We need to win against India and we will see how it goes. We will be missing a few players but the others will have to step up,” said captain Hariss Harun.
The two Kuwaiti goals were well-taken, even if the Singapore defense did give them too much space. The first came early in the 11th minute when Kuwaiti captain Ali Almaqseed was given time and space in midfield to pick out a shot that sailed beyond the arm of Singapore’s Izwan Mahbud in goal. The normally smiling Izwan was upset enough with his teammates for allowing the free shot that he expressed his displeasure for all to see.
The second Kuwait goal did not take long in coming. Alazmi Mashari was again left unmarked at the top of the penalty box in the 24th minute and he took advantage of a loose ball that came his way to shoot precisely into the bottom left corner of the Singapore goal even though Izwan dived at full stretch.
Singapore’s Shakir then picked up an needless first yellow card in the first half for arguing with the referee about a foul call. This proved his undoing in the second half when he got a second yellow for taking down a Kuwait attacker from behind.
Goalkeeper Izwan will also miss the next game against India after picking up his second yellow card of the Asian Games when he came charging out and clipped a Kuwaiti attacker outside the box. Izwan picked up his first yellow in the 0-0 draw against Qatar for time wasting.
“I am disappointed that we lost. They were a good team with many individual players who were technically gifted. It was a tough game and they played better than us over the 90 minutes,” said coach Sundram.
In another Group D game, defending champions Qatar beat India 2-1. With this loss, Singapore will now have to beat India in their final group game to stand any chance of advancing to the round of 16. The top two from each of the six groups and the best four third-placed teams will advance.
Group D Results
Kuwait 2 Singapore 0
Qatar 2 India 1
Qatar 0 Singapore 0
India 0 Kuwait 2
Asian Games Football - Group D
| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qatar | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 6 |
| Kuwait | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 6 |
| India | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 |
| Singapore | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | -5 | 1 |
judging from the extensive football coverage here, it seems like the only sport in Asian Games is football, huh?
I suppose you are not aware that the only sport that’s going on in the Asian Games right now is football.
The Asian Games proper starts Friday, November 12.