Singapore coach Radojko Avramovic lauded the resilience of his Lions after an Indra Sahdan strike earned them a 1-1 draw with Tiger Cup co-hosts Vietnam.

The home side went ahead early in the second half as Thach Bao Khanh directed a superb header past Singapore keeper Lionel Lewis, sparking delirious celebrations from the 21,000 home fans packed into the Thong Nhat Stadium.

But with 20 minutes to go, Indra squeezed his shot from the top of the box past Vietnam keeper Tran Minh Quang, to stony silence from the Vietnamese fans.

Singapore finished the stronger even as Vietnam dominated possession in the first half, and Indra had a lobbed effort cleared off the line and saw a sharp header well saved by Minh Quang.

The Lions’ recovery from Bao Khanh’s goal delighted coach Avramovic. “You could see that all of our players were giving their best for 90 minutes. I told them before the game that it’s not the end of the world if you concede a goal and they showed that you can get a reward for fighting until the end.

“We could even have won the game as we had many chances in the second half, but in the end I think a draw was a fair result.”

Roared on by their fervid fans clad in bright red and yellow, the Vietnamese had the better of possession in the opening exchanges. For all that though, they carved out only two clearcut chances in the first half.

Lively striker Le Cong Vinh’s curling shot had Lionel beaten but bounced off the crossbar midway through the first half, while Nguyen Minh Phuong’s freekick was palmed away by Lionel for a corner minutes before the break.

Singapore meanwhile were looking to exploit Vietnamese lapse with quick counters. But while wide men Itimi Dickson and Muhammad Ridhuan overlapped their markers on a number of occasions, their delivery for the front two of Indra and Agu Casmir was less than proficient.

The Lions came closest in first half injury time with Shahril Ishak’s freekick which flashed just over Minh Quang’s crossbar with the keeper flailing at thin air.

Daniel Bennett then saw his volleyed effort stray wide as Singapore started the second half slightly the brighter.

But six minutes into the half, the Thong Nhat stadium erupted when Bao Khanh met Pham Van Tai Em’s inviting cross with a superb diving header which left his marker Baihakki Khaizan and Lionel no chance.

Any Lions team from the past couple of years might have let their heads drop but the 2004 edition is a more hardy unit, and set about taking the attacking initiative. With 67 minutes past, Indra found himself in the clear from Daniel Bennett’s diagonal cross only to see his poked shot smothered by Minh Quang.

The Home United striker was not to be denied though. Shahril’s freekick was partially cleared by Vietnam defender Le Quang Trai, and Indra was on hand to send his snap shot past keeper Minh Quang.

Minh Quang then nearly put his team in dire straits as he collided with defender Pham Hung Dung in the seemingly routine collection of a cross. Indra’s lob towards an empty goal was blocked on the line though by Quang Trai.

As visibly flattened as the Thong Nhat crowd, Vietnam could only muster one good look at Singapore’s goal in the closing stages. That chance though, coming from Cong Vinh’s long range strike, brought out a superb save from Lionel.

Indra drew a diving save from Minh Quang in the dying minutes with a header but the Lions were unable to find a winner. Both teams will be content not to have lost their Tiger Cup opener, though the result means that their matches against Indonesia will be crucial to any semi-final aspirations.