Singapore team's confidence
To get a ticket to the final, the Singapore team must beat the Vietnamese team by 3 goals or more, in the match taking place at 8:00 p.m. on December 29 at Viet Tri Stadium, Phu Tho.
Sharing with the Straits Times (Singapore), Singapore coach Tsutomu Ogura compared the semi-final match consisting of two first and second leg matches to a match with two halves.
“We finished the first half in Singapore, the question is how we will prepare for the second half. 0-2 is a dangerous result for us. If we score a goal, who knows what will happen,” he said.
The Lions (Singapore's nickname) played well for most of the first leg of the semi-final, but then lost by two goals in extra time, accompanied by controversial decisions by the referee.
Defender Safuwan Baharudin said: "We played against Vietnam and deserved at least one goal. I am proud of the team's performance, but that is not enough because football is about results and we owe that to the fans."
Midfielder Hami Syahin added: "It was hard to accept losing when we had a good performance. The whole team got into the atmosphere at the stadium, got energy from the fans and tried to win.
The referee's decision is not in our control. The first leg is over and now we are looking forward to the second leg of the semi-final."
Regarding the chance of reaching the final of the ASEAN Cup 2024, Hami said: “This is a difficult task, but not impossible. We will go out on the field with strong belief and try our best to win. The players all have faith that we can do this.”
Challenge from Vietnam team
According to Straits Times, although Singapore has improved its playing style in each match at this year's ASEAN Cup, they still need to end a streak of two consecutive matches without scoring to have a chance to reach the final.
“But that won’t be easy against a Vietnam team that has conceded just twice in five matches. Moreover, Singapore have not beaten Vietnam since a 1-0 win in the 1998 final, when the tournament was known as the Tiger Cup,” the Singaporean newspaper commented.
Under Ogura, Singapore has had successful comebacks. They drew 2-2 with China after being down 0-2, or beat Myanmar 3-2 from being down 1-2.
In the second leg, Singapore will welcome back Japanese midfielder Kyoga Nakamura after his suspension. With this passer, the visitors are confident of exploiting set pieces, after failing to score a goal from 24 corner kicks since the start of the tournament.
The two strikers Faris Ramli and Taufik Suparno could also start, after playing well when coming off the bench in the first leg. Regarding the squad information, Mr. Ogura hinted to the Singaporean media.
Captain Hariss Harun remains optimistic heading into the match at Viet Tri Stadium. “Throughout the 2024 ASEAN Cup, not just in this match, we have shown that if we believe in ourselves enough, we can achieve something. It’s not over for Singapore yet,” he said.
