Cara Chang (jersey number seven) celebrating the seventh goal for Singapore with her teammates, 28 April 2023. 

 

SINGAPORE, 29 APRIL 2023 – It was goals galore at the Jalan Besar Stadium last night as the Singapore Under-16 Women’s National Team won their first international match at home with an emphatic scoreline of 7-0.

 

Right from kickoff, the young Lionesses wasted no time as they quickly sought to gain possession of the ball and began taking multiple on-target shots which were blocked by Turkmenistan’s goalkeeper Karapetyans Amaliya.

 

The resistance did not last however, as in the 10th minute, Captain Natasha Nazsri broke the deadlock, and swept a curler in the direction of the far post, striking the back of the net to notch Singapore’s first goal with poise.

 

Falida Aikaterini’s charges continued their attacking stance as they attempted to break down the fragile defense of their opponents. Amaliya had a busy night in goal as she attempted to marshal her defenders to repel several close attempts from the quick-witted young Lionesses.

 

Chloe Koh with the ball, 28 April 2023.

 

But the tenacity and eagerness of the young Lionesses ultimately proved too much for Turkmenistan for a second time – forward Chloe Koh received midfielder Liyana Rickit’s pass, and dribbled past two charging defenders, before netting a swift shot past Amaliya for a 2-0 lead against Turkmenistan going into the half time break.

 

The second half saw Singapore not only picking up where they left off, but also ramping up the intensity. Turkmenistan soon suffered another setback with defender Gayipova Madina being sent off after picking up a second cautionable offence in the 52^nd minute. The Lionesses capitalised on the advantage in numbers and eight minutes later, forward Mulan Ayliffe received a long ball from defender Ardhra Arul, before slipping it to Chloe. The quick-witted striker was reveling in her number nine position and coolly lobbed the ball over the goalkeeper for a splendid finish.

 

The Turkmenistan players had barely enough time to recover as two minutes later, substitute midfielder Nahwah Aidilreza came running in behind two unsuspecting opposing defenders and converted Chloe’s pass to score Singapore’s fourth goal.

 

Striker Cara Chang continued the goal fest by curving the ball sumptuously into the far-left corner of the net as she extended the lead to five in the 64^th minute, with the help of Ardhra’s assist from the center of the pitch.

 

Nahwah with the ball, 28 April 2023. 

 

For the next 20 minutes, the young Lionesses kept peppering their opponents’ goal despite multiple missed shots as they continued to press high up the pitch against their opponents. They were duly rewarded as after receiving a high ball from defender Qarissa Putri, Nahwah ran past two charging defenders, and brilliantly dribbled past a startled Amaliya, slotting the sixth goal into the open goal in the 83^rd minute. The defining goal of the night that placed the girls at the top of the Group D qualifying table came three minutes into extra time, with Cara chipping the ball in a high arc over Amaliya after a sublime pass from Nahwah.

 

In the Group D opening match on 26 April, Bangladesh had beaten Turkmenistan 6-0. This is the first time Singapore has won since its previous involvement at the tournament came in the inaugural edition in 2005, when it was still known as the AFC U-17 Women’s Championship. With one goal making the difference to place them in top spot over Bangladesh, Singapore will need only to draw in order to secure a spot in the Round 2 of the Qualifiers, which will be held later this year. Singapore will play against Bangladesh this Sunday, 30 April, at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

 

 

Singapore U16: Nurul Illyanis (GK), Tia Foong (Madelin Sophie HT), Ardhra Ganeswaran, Irsalina Irwan (Nadila Danisha 79′), Seri Nurinsyirah, Joan Mulan Ayliffe (Charlotte Chong 79′), Chloe Koh, Liyana Rickit (Nahwah Aidilreza HT), Nur Amanina (Cara Chang HT), Qarissa Putri, Natasha Naszri

Unused subs: Nur Alysha (GK), Nur Izairida Shakira (GK), Yasmine Zaharin, Yuvika Suresh, Anna Vaswani, Nurul Aqilah, Nisreen Aziz.

 

Rewatch the best moments of the match between Singapore and Turkmenistan here on our Youtube Page!

 

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!