Amman, Friday, November 11, 2011 — Singapore lost 0-2 to Jordan in their third round World Cup qualifying group.

Goals from Ahmad Hayel and Amer Deeb ensured that Jordan qualified for the next round while snuffing out whatever faint mathematical chance Singapore had of qualifying. The loss also leaves Singapore at the bottom of Group A without a single point after four games with just one goal scored.

Jordan’s attacks came down the right flank of Singapore but Shaiful Esah and Fazrul Nawaz held firm.

The first real opportunity of the game fell to the Jordanians when Amer Deeb sent a perfect chip into the box for Hasan Abdel Fattah whose header went just wide.

With coach Radojko Avramovic serving his touchline ban and having to sit in the stands, the Lions were under siege for the next few minutes and eventually, the Jordanians found the breakthrough in the 15th minute. Their chief striker, Ahmad Hayel, went on a mazy run down the right before drilling the ball past a helpless Lionel Lewis in goal.

The rest of the first-half saw Lions create three chances, the first coming in the 30th minute when Noh Rahman played in a delightful lob that sent Aleksandar Duric chasing. However, Amer Shafi, the Jordan custodian, managed to get both his hands on the ball.

In the 34th minute, Shi Jiayi finally got into his rhythm with a good ball out to Fazrul whose cross was cleared back out into Jiayi’s path but he blazed it over the bar.

Two minutes later, the Lions were awarded a free-kick when Shahril Ishak was fouled just outside the box. From the resulting free-kick, Mustafic Fahrudin laid it off to Jiayi whose wicked shot seemed to be on target until it deflected off Duric to go out for a goal kick.

The second-half saw the Lions starting brightly and in the 50th minute, Shahril whipped in a wonderful cross which found the head of Jiayi who directed it into the net, only to see the linesman call for an offside.

Singapore’s hopes of salvaging any points from the match were flattened when Amer Deeb, who was a constant menace down the right flank all night, scored his team’s second goal of the night to make it 2-0.

Singapore had two other attempts to get on the scoresheet with the first coming in the 69th minute when Shahril spread the ball out to the right for the overlapping Juma’at Jantan to put in a delightful cross which glanced off Fazrul’s head.

In the 82nd minute, Firdaus Idros, who came on to win his first international cap, showed his wizardry down the right and his cross found Jiayi whose header was off target.

With Iraq securing a 1-0 win over China in the other Group A game of the night, Jordan secured qualification to the next round with their 2-0 win. When the referee blew the whistle, a slew of fireworks and party music were unleashed as a boisterous crowd celebrated their team’s qualification to the next round.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, assistant coach V.Sundramoorthy said: “First of all, on behalf of the team, I would like to congratulate Jordan for making it into the next round. As for the game itself, it was a tough game in this cold weather but the boys gave it their all only to lose to a better opponent. I wish Jordan the best of luck in the next round and with the team they have, I am sure they will do well.”

As for Home United winger, Firdaus Idros, who won his first international cap when he came on as a substitute, it was a bitter-sweet night.

He added: “I am disappointed and sad to have lost the game. We had chances in the game and who knows what might have happened if we scored. Yes it is my first international cap but I am more upset with the loss than my own personal interest.

“This first international cap will spur me on. Not just to try and win a place in the national team but to do even better in the league next season and become a better player. Only then should I be thinking of the national team.”

Singapore Starting Lineup
Lionel Lewis, Ismail Yunos, Daniel Bennett, Shaiful Esah, Juma’at Jantan (Sevki Sha’ban 73), Noh Rahman, Shi Jiayi, Shahril Ishak(c), Mustafic Fahrudin (Hafiz Rahim 90+), Fazrul Nawaz, Aleksandar Duric (Firdaus Idros 71)

Jordan Starting Lineup
Amer Shafi, Bashar Bani Yaseen, Basem Fathi, Baha Abdelrahman, Amer Deeb, Hasan Abdel Fattah, Hatem Aqel(c), Shadi Abu Hashhash, Khalil Zaid, Ahmad Hayel (Hamza Al Daradreh 87), Abdallah Deeb (Anas Hijah 78)