SINGAPORE: The Singapore national football team head coach Tsutomu Ogura tasted his first win since taking the reins in February, leading the team to a 3-2 victory over Myanmar on Nov 14, but the joy was short-lived as the Lions suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Chinese Taipei just four days later.
Although veteran player Hariss featured in both friendly matches, head coach Ogura opted to entrust the captain’s armband to Shah Shahiran and Hami Syahin for the Myanmar and Chinese Taipei matches respectively.
“For the performance today (against Myanmar), there’s always room for improvement. For the second half, I think we did drop a little bit. It’s a good thing for us to come back 3-2. I can promise them (fans), we will play good football with Coach Ogura,” said Shahiran in a post-match interview with the Football Association of Singapore.
The BG Tampines Rovers midfielder added, “It’s a huge step for me, taking the captaincy role from Hariss Harun is a very, very huge step. Of course, since young I’ve wanted to be a national team player. At the same time, if I have the role to take the captaincy, I will grab it.”
Despite the notable absence of several key players who are currently plying their trade in Thailand, head coach Ogura handed Kyoga Nakamura, who recently obtained his Singapore citizenship last month, his highly-anticipated international debut.
Irfan Fandi (Port FC), Ikhsan Fandi, Ilhan Fandi (both from BG Pathum United), and Harhys Stewart from Chiangrai United, as well as Lion City Sailors’ Song Ui-young, are not named in the Lions squad for the November friendly matches.
The Straits Times reported that Irfan, Ikhsan and Harhys are recovering from their injuries and that the trio are unlikely to be released by their Thailand clubs to participate in the regional tournament in December.
In a bold and experimental move, head coach Ogura revamped his starting lineup for the clash against Chinese Taipei, opting to retain only veteran Hariss and Shahiran, while introducing a fresh face in Balestier Khalsa defender Jordan Emaviwe, who earned his maiden senior appearance for the Lions.
Despite a valiant late surge, courtesy of a goal each from Irfan Najeeb and Shawal Anuar in the waning moments of the match, the Lions’ spirited comeback bid ultimately fell short, as their 168th-ranked opponents held on for a 3-2 victory.
After the loss to the basketball-crazed nation, head coach Ogura admitted that there are areas of improvement for his team.
“Today, we tried new formations and players against a strong and physical Chinese Taipei side. Some things worked out while others did not, but we also made mistakes today which led to goals being conceded. It’s difficult to manage games when we are constantly chasing an opponent in the lead,” said Ogura in the post-match interview.
The Lions’ head coach emphatically stressed that football is a holistic 90-minute endeavour and not a mere 10-minute surge where players only rouse themselves for a frantic finale. He also emphasised the need for a sustained effort and consistency throughout the entire match, warning that anything less would make success a daunting task.
Lion City Sailors midfielder Hami, who was named captain for the Chinese Taipei match, acknowledged that the Lions could perform much better.
“Honestly, it was a disappointing performance for the team. We all know that we can do better and also as a team we believe that we can get a win from this game. We know we are so much better than this,” shared Hami.
“It somehow mentally prepped us. We can’t afford to make these kinds of mistakes and perform this kind of performance in the ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup.”
The series of friendly matches was the Lions’ final preparation for next month’s Mitsubishi Electric Cup. In the previous edition in 2022, Singapore failed to progress past the group stage, finishing third behind Vietnam and Malaysia.
This year, Singapore are in Group A and will begin their campaign by hosting Cambodia on Dec 11 and will then face Timor-Leste in an away match on Dec 14.
Their final two round-robin matches will be against tournament favourites Thailand at home on Dec 17, and they will travel to the Bukit Jalil National Stadium to face Malaysia on Dec 20.