Masanaga Kageyama looked me in the eye and said ‘we need to do this more often.’ I was talking with the Singapore Under 16 coach at the end of the AFF Youth Championship in Jakarta and I’d asked what he’d learned most from the experience.

Back in Singapore the Under 16s dominate the Under 18 league they play in and it’s only natural for some complacency to creep in. This tournament was a wake up call.

For the first half of the first game against neighbours Malaysia, it appeared no one heard the call and they went 1-0 down. The second half performance was better but failure to convert chances was always going to prove costly and so it did when the Malaysians scored a second with 10 minutes left.

A late red card, the first of three during the tournament, compounded the misery.

Next up was Bahrain. A bigger and stronger opponent than any the Singaporeans would face in their own league.

Loose defending in the first couple of minutes allowed the gulf side to score and from then on it was always going to be a difficult task. But Singapore equipped themselves well and coach Kageyama proudly declared this was his team’s best performance in the tournament.

It could have been oh so different. Late addition to the squad Danial Razali came on as a second half substitute and within seconds he went close. The young striker had been injured and originally left out of the squad but recovered and arrived in time to add a muscular presence to the attack.

His partnership up front with captain Shahfiq Ghani boded well for the Singaporeans and in the early stages of the second half they were on top as Bahrain looked rattled.

However it all fell apart when the skipper was red carded and Singapore were back to 10 men. They kept the Bahrainis at bay for the rest of the second half with Kenneth Chang We Zei impressing at the back. 

Next up were the Australians and shorn of the suspended Shahfiq Ghani Kageyama had no hesitation in drafting in Razali who had so impressed against Bahrain.

The Aussies took the lead just before half time but second half saw the Singaporeans burst out the blocks and within seconds they were level through Muhaymin Salim.

Looking to keep their 100% record the Australians tore into the much lighter Singapore side. They fought for every ball, they appealed everything and they left their mark on their opponents, especially keeper Syazwan Buhari who was put under a lot of pressure but the Lions held out and can take great pride in their 1-1 draw.

It was a tough challenge, one they won’t have back in Singapore, and they didn’t wilt with a fine defensive performance that was real backs to the wall stuff.

Three games into the tournament and they were still without a win. The worry was though that they had not performed for a full 90 minutes yet. The next game was Indonesia and this would be a different type of challenge.

Coach Kageyama described the hosts as ‘technically better’ than his side but strong second half performances against Bahrain and Australia had left him feeling they could do a job in front of a passionate, partisan crowd.

Singapore needed a point to guarantee fourth place while Indonesia who hadn’t been enjoying a good tournament would see anything other than a defeat as a good result.

This time it was Singapore who drew first blood with Muhayim Salim scoring after three minutes but that all important second goal eluded them.

At half time Kageyama warned his players to concentrate fully because they could expect the Indonesians to put up a fight.

On 57 minutes the home team equalized, their first goal of the tournament setting up a grand stand finish. Indonesia pressed knowing a shock victory would take them off bottom place and above Singapore in the final table.

A third red card left Singapore hanging on desperately and the final whistle couldn’t come too soon for the players who had played four games in nine games against quality opposition.

Their coach described the second half as ‘stressful’ as his lads hung on for the draw that set them up for a third fourth place play off against Malaysia.

In the press room at the end of the tournament Masanaga Kageyama returned to the theme. ‘We need to play against top quality opponents more often. That’s the only way we are going to improve. We need to learn to play and concentrate for the whole 90 minutes.’

Singapore had come into a strong competition and equipped themselves well. Bahrain and Australia are more used to playing quality opposition while this Malaysian side has a couple of potential talents and Indonesia are never easy to play against.

For the world to see the best of players like Razali, Shahfiq and Chang they need to be facing quality opposition on a regular basis. They need to be roughed up a bit; they need to be verbally and physically challenged at a young age. They have talent but to compete on the world stage they need the experience that can only come from competitions like this.

(Pictures:Antony Sutton)