SEA Games Football: Can Singapore reach the final?

The Singapore U-23 team (red) in action at the 2011 SEA Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. Singapore did not make it to the semi-finals in that edition. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images for SSC)

The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) is targeting a place in the final at the upcoming 2013 South-east Asian Games in Myanmar.

Football became an U-23 tournament at the SEA Games from 2001. In the six tournaments played since then, Singapore have qualified for the semi-final stage twice, in 2007 and 2009. Both times, the U-23 squad went on to finish third.

Out of the 24 semi-final places available over the six tournaments since 2001, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam have collectively qualified for 18 of those slots.

Malaysia and Vietnam are the most consistent SEA Games football country in qualifying for the top four, having done so five times each. Thailand and Myanmar are the next best teams with four semi-final appearances each.

However, when it comes to going all the way and winning the gold, Thailand, who qualified only four times for the semi-finals in that period, have done so three times (’01, ’03, ’05, ’07). Malaysia are next with two gold medals (’09, ’11).

Thailand have the best winning percentage among SEA countries. Only three countries have winning percentages above 50 percent: Thailand (76%), Malaysia (67%) and Vietnam (52%). Singapore rank fourth among SEA countries at 44 percent.

Thailand are the highest scoring country, averaging 2.90 goals per game. Only three countries score an average of more than two goals per game – Thailand, Malaysia (2.27) and Vietnam (2.06). Singapore, at 1.56, rank sixth.

Thailand have the best defence, leaking an average of 0.59 goals per game. Singapore are third best at 0.96. Together with Malaysia, only these three countries conceded an average of less than one goal per game.

While defence has traditionally been a strong point for the Young Lions, the statistics show that scoring has been a long-standing issue for the U-23 squad.

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