Lionesses captain calls Hong Kong clash a ‘balanced fight’ despite early stoppage and 1–0 deficit

Singapore’s last home match before the start of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup was halted due to heavy rains. Despite the unfortunate cancellation, Singapore’s national team, the Lionesses, showed their determination as they fought against Hong Kong, which is ranked 59 places higher. 

The Singaporean team had a great start at the friendly match, which was held at Choa Chu Kang Stadium. It was, however, called off four minutes into the second half with Hong Kong leading 1-0 at that point. 

Highlights of the match 

Winger Farah Nurzahirah made two early chances, but the play was stopped after 17 minutes due to a lightning warning, causing a one-hour delay.

When the match resumed, Hong Kong increased their game, but 18-year-old goalkeeper Izairida Shakira made several key saves. A defensive mistake gave Hong Kong’s Leung Hong Liu Anke an opportunity to score. Hong Kong nearly scored again before halftime.

The second half saw the return of veteran midfielder Lim Li Xian, adding more experience to the match. Singapore kept pressing, but the worsening weather led to the match being cancelled.

With this, Lionesses’ Head Coach, Karim Bencherifa, remained optimistic and shared encouraging aspects from the game. “I think the players worked really hard under difficult conditions. We were looking to continue, but it’s still a positive outcome. A lot of work remains, but game after game, we’re progressing,” he said.  

“Kudos to Hong Kong – gave us two good games. Even though today’s game didn’t finish, I was very happy with what I saw,” he added. 

Furthermore, the Lionesses’ team captain, Rosnani Azman, reflected on the team’s performance and shared her thoughts. In a video shared on social media, she said, “I think we did quite well… I mean, of course, playing against Hong Kong, who’s like 80th ranking – it was a strong opponent.” 

The athlete added, “I actually believe that it was a balanced fight. You can see that both teams are attacking, and we also create chances. It’s just that we couldn’t convert it into a goal… But I think it was a good fight, leading to the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers.” 

Some netizens disagreed with the post, questioning the fairness of the match. One remarked bluntly, “A loss is not balanced.”

The Lionesses are now preparing for the  AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers. They will leave and go to Amman, the capital of Jordan, which will host all the Group A matches.