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We will have to see more on the Singaporean side ahead in the Sea Games against their upcoming opponents. Take a look at our latest Singapore football news on Young Lion’s perception after their victory over Yemen on Tuesday. For the entire developments under their new coach Tatsuma Yoshida, this will be considered as one of the biggest improvements among the team has been a mental one. There will be no secondary status when encountering other teams especially the stronger ones, Singapore national team captain Hariss Harun informed the Strait Time on Tuesday in the evening in Bahrain, following the amazing victory against Yemen from their World Cup qualifying round. The captain midfielder stated:
“We don’t need to fear Middle Eastern or Central Asian teams anymore. As you can see from our past few matches, we now have the belief to go and try to beat them, even away. Even in the recent friendly against Asian champions Qatar (which the Lions lost 2 – 0 in Doha), we created chances and had we scored, we might have changed the course of the game.”
“Coach Yoshida has allowed us to express ourselves and have a go at them. Every team has its own weaknesses and if we try to attack them, we can have a chance to score and beat them. If we want to achieve something and be successful, we have to carry on with this mentality.”
The confirmation of this judgment can be seen in the 2nd goal of team Singapore. Hafiz Nor, 31-year-old, currently making his 6th senior appearance, recorded with a decent curling performance shortly after the half-time. This would be considered as his 1st international score and he owed it to his coach Tatsuma because of its faith in him. Hafiz Nor stated:
“When we got the ball, the only thing in my mind was to beat the player and go for a shot; that was what coach told me to do in training and I am happy I did it. We did pretty well and followed the game plan; we played as a team and won as a team. Playing against Middle Eastern opposition is not easy, but we achieved the victory and everyone is very happy about it.”
The game was played at the unbiased venue which is the Al Muharraq Stadium and this is to avoid the ongoing civil war in Yemen. The unavailable ace players are Shakir Hamzah, Shawal Anuar, and Faris Ramli, in which bought an amazing lead and credit to Ikhsan Fandi’s great volley within the 19th minute. Regardless of the Yemen side’s continuous strikes in which they are ranking at 141th and 18 positions higher than the Singapore team, the defensive mechanism, by the excellent leadership of Irfan Fandi and Safuwan Baharudin. With the acquired three points, the Singaporean team pulled themselves off the foot in Group D to 3rd place along with seven points coming from their five matches.
