Singapore U22s starting lineup against Macau AFC U22 Qualifiers

The starting lineup for the Singapore U22s against Macau U22s. (Photo courtesy of FAS)

Pekanbaru, Thursday, July 12, 2012 — The Singapore Under-22 national football squad got their second victory in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U22 Qualifiers when they convincingly defeated Macau U22s 3-0.

Singapore led 2-0 at half time.

Singapore had earlier beaten Timor Leste 2-1 in their opening game. They then lost 0-3 to Japan before drawing 0-0 with Australia. The Young Lions now lie third in their qualifying group behind Australia in second and group leaders Japan.

The Singapore U22s controlled the game right from the start, and maintained ball possession well throughout the 90 minutes.

The first chance came in the 15th minute when midfielder Safirul Sulaiman danced past two defenders in the penalty box, but his shot went straight to Macau’s keeper, Ho Man Fai.

Safirul came close again just 10 minutes later when he found himself free on the left, but his lob just grazed the crossbar.

Singapore’s efforts paid off a minute later when striker Faris Ramli’s header went past Ho Man Fai from a Safirul free-kick.

Singapore pressed harder in search for the second goal and were rewarded in the 33rd minute, again, from a set-piece. This time, midfielder Aqhari Abdullah was the provider, sending a ball into the box for captain, Al-Qaasimy Rahman to tap in.

The Macau U22s stepped up a gear after the break but Singapore proved too strong for them.

Substitute Shamil Shariff almost got his name on the scoresheet in the 67th minute, when his drive from outside the penalty box just went wide.

Macau came close in pulling a goal back in the 72nd minute through substitute Chai Wai Fong when he attempted an audacious bicycle-kick, but his try did not trouble Singapore’s keeper, Syazwan Buhari.

Aqhari Abdullah got a glorious chance in the 80th minute to add a third, but his penalty attempt was saved by the crossbar.

Aqhari made amends for his miss when he capitalised on a through-ball to round the keeper and score into an empty net in the 82nd minute.

Singapore head coach Mike Wong said: “The boys played according to plan and I am happy with the win. We were in control during most of the match. Our focus now is the match against Indonesia and how to overcome them. They have a couple of good players and they are a fit and fast side collectively. We are here to compete, and we are going for the win.”

Aqhari Abullah said: “I am happy I got the goal, and we got the three points. We will now train hard during this two-day break to prepare ourselves for the game against Indonesia. It will not be easy as they are the host nation and we will play them in a packed stadium.”

Japan have already qualified from their group and Australia are favourites to secure the runners-up spot in the group and qualification for the AFC U22 Championship in 2013. Singapore need to beat Indonesia by a large margin to have any hope of beating out the Australians for second spot.

If Singapore lost second spot to Australia, they will hope to secure their spot in the 2013 Championship as the best third-placed team.

Final Score
Singapore U22s 3 Macau U22s 0

Singapore U22 Starting Lineup
Syazwan Buhari, Delwinder Singh, Ali Hudzaifi, Al-Qaasimy Rahman, Sheikh Abdul Hadi, Faris Ramli, Aqhari Abdullah, Safirul Sulaiman( Ignatius Ang 50’), Raihan Rahman, Basil Teo (Shamil Shariff 61’), Amy Recha (Fareez Farhan 77’)

Macau U22 Starting Lineup
Ho Man Fai, Lau Pak Meng, Sio Ka Un, Kaewchang Capelo, Lei Ka Him, Pang Ka Him, Pang Chi Wai, Lei Tin U, Leong Keng Pang, Pang Chi Hang, De Jesus Morais, Perdo Tong