U22 Timor Leste won 3-1 against Singapore - Photo: NAM TRAN
On the evening of December 6, U22 Singapore had their opening match in Group A of the 33rd SEA Games men's football, facing U22 Timor Leste. After the previous heavy 1-6 loss to U22 Thailand, Timor Leste players were considered the weakest team in Group A.
Before the match, many experts believed that the young team from the Lion Island would have an easy victory, even a big victory to send U22 Timor Leste home. Contrary to that thinking, Timor Leste proved that they are no longer an easy opponent to "bully".
Despite being 1-0 down in the 11th minute, Timor Leste players were not discouraged and continued to launch attacks. Then, the unexpected happened, U22 Timor Leste came back in the first half after scoring 3 goals in a row.
Singapore's efforts to find an equalizer in the second half were all in vain against the disciplined play of Timor Leste's defense. In the end, Timor Leste won convincingly 3-1 against Singapore, thereby rising to second place in Group A.
Witnessing the home team’s defeat, many Singaporean newspapers were shocked by the result of the match. The Straits Times (Singapore) described some Singaporean players bowing their heads, covering their faces and dragging their feet after the defeat against U22 Timor Leste.
The Singaporean newspaper also said that the defeat against Timor Leste means that Singapore's hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the SEA Games for the first time since 2013 have gone up in smoke. The Singapore U22 team is facing the risk of being eliminated from the group stage for the 6th consecutive time.
Meanwhile, CNA Singapore was disappointed with the performance of the Singapore U22 players in last night's match. CNA criticized the home team's playing style and said that Singapore has had a poor record in the recent SEA Games.
Speaking after the match, Singapore coach Firdaus Kassim apologized to the fans: "We apologize to the fans, this is not what the fans expected. We really hope they understand that this is part of the journey to build for future campaigns.
No one wants to lose, including me, but I think these are obstacles that we have to overcome to achieve success in the near future. What we can do now is focus on the next game. It is difficult to think about qualifying but we need to try and achieve the best result possible.”
Losing 1-3 to U22 Timor Leste, U22 Singapore must beat Thailand in the final round to keep their hopes of advancing alive. Facing the host team Thailand is clearly a challenge beyond the reach of the Singapore players.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bao-chi-singapore-soc-truoc-tran-thua-u22-timor-leste-20251207100334821.htm
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