National Teams – Age-group ● Jul 05, 2022
Second defeat for U19s
Amir Rashid on the ball in the second half against Timor Leste.
SINGAPORE, 5 JULY 2022 – Singapore fell to a second consecutive defeat in the ASEAN Football Federation U19 Boys Championship 2022 on Tuesday night, losing 1-0 to Timor Leste.
The U19 team started brightly, with Aqil Yazid registering the first shot of the game in the first minute. The defender rose highest to meet a free-kick but put his header over. The chance seemed to spark Timor Leste into life and they thought they had gone ahead in the 25th minute when Alexandro Kefi rounded Firman Nabil and passed the ball into an empty net, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside.
Singapore had the best chance to score right at the end of the first half. Good pressing from Hilman Norisham forced Timor Leste into a mistake and the loose ball was picked up by Khairin Nadim. He deftly took a touch to round the onrushing keeper, but the Timor Leste defenders reacted quickly to block his shot. After the restart, Singapore struggled to settle down and Timor Leste’s sustained pressure paid off in the 59th minute when Mario Quinto reacted the quickest to a rebound to score.
Chasing an equaliser, coach Fadzuhasny Juraimi introduced tricky winger Kieran Aryan into the fold and the switch nearly paid off in the 72nd minute. Khairin’s cross was not dealt with by the Timor Leste defence and the ball fell kindly to Kieran, who was lurking at the back post. However, he scuffed his shot and it trickled harmlessly to the goalkeeper. A final chance to equalise occurred right at the death as substitute Ali Manaf’s corner fell kindly to Khairin, who could not beat the goalkeeper with the last kick of the game.
Singapore will face rivals Malaysia next on Thursday for their third Group B match.
Singapore: Firman Nabil (GK), Aqil Yazid, Scott Crichton, Syafi Hilman, Raoul Suhaimi (Aniq Raushan 66′), Amir Rashid, Asis Ijilral (Ryu Hardy 58′) Hilman Norisham (Ali Manaf 46′), Khairin Nadim, Ilyasin Zayed (Kieran Aryan 72′), Zakaria Syari
Unused subs: Rauf Erwan, Irfan Iskandar, Izrafil Yusof, Sham Mohamed, Junki Yoshimura, Glenn Ong, Farid Jafri.
