SINGAPORE: The Singapore men’s football team fell to their first defeat at the SEA Games in Vietnam following a 5-0 loss to Thailand on Monday (May 9).
Thailand dominated much of the possession in the first half as they made continuous forays into Singapore’s half, but the Lions kept a cool head in defence for the opening 20 minutes.
The fancied Thais, who have won SEA Games gold on 16 occasions, were backed by a capacity crowd at the Thien Truong Stadium in Nam Dinh as they looked to bounce back after their shock opening match defeat to Malaysia.
Singapore’s first attack of note came in the 30th minute down the right flank and the resulting corner saw the Thai goalkeeper make a close-range save from Harhys Stewart.
The first half was a cagey affair with few clear-cut chances until it burst into life with five minutes left.
Singapore had a penalty shout waved off by the referee in the 40th minute when Ryhan Stewart was shoved in the 18-yard box. At the other end minutes later, Singapore goalkeeper Zaiful Nizam made a sharp save when he fell low to keep a shot out.
But on the stroke of half-time, Thailand’s Ben Davis was felled in the box by Syahrul Sazali. Davis stepped up to slot home the penalty for his first international goal.
The Thais began the second half strongly and doubled their lead in the 47th minute after Harhys Stewart turned a low cross from the byline into his own net. Four minutes later Thailand scored their third through Ekanit Panya after some slick passing and flat-footed defending from the Lions.
Panya got his second and Thailand’s fourth in the 66th minute when he struck a curling shot from inside the penalty box, and 15 minutes later Korawich Tasa scored the fifth after another clever passing move.
The loss was Singapore’s heaviest at the SEA Games since losing 8-1 to Burma at the 1971 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games.
Singapore opened their SEA Games campaign with a 2-2 draw with Laos on Saturday, snatching a point in the closing minutes after being two goals down.
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