S’pore Football Team Exits SEA Games With 0 Wins, Last Qualified From Group Stage In 2013

Singapore Men’s Football Team Fails To Qualify From SEA Games Group Stage

On Saturday (6 May), Singapore’s men’s under-22 football team exited the SEA Games in Cambodia after a 0-0 draw against Laos.

Having already lost to Thailand and Vietnam, the team has crashed out of the group stage even though they are yet to play Malaysia in their last remaining game.

The game was summed up by a penalty miss by Syahadat Masnawi that could have secured some hope.

The last time Singapore qualified from the group stage in the SEA Games was in 2013, when they clinched a bronze medal beating Malaysia.

Missed penalty sums up Singapore football team’s SEA Games

Needing a win to keep the Lions’ hopes alive, Singapore had their best chance to score in the 64th minute when Nicky Melvin Singh won a penalty, just seconds after he came on as a substitute.

But Syahadat missed the subsequent penalty in an attempt to fool the goalkeeper.

His strike sent the ball flying above the goalpost and safely away from the goal, causing him to fall to the ground in anguish.

The rest of the game was punctuated with difficulty from both sides. Even though Singapore had more chances, they were unable to finish them.

At the end of the game, it became clear that Singapore had lost their last chance and would be exiting the group stage once again without qualifying or a medal — marking their fifth consecutive dud in 10 years.

 

Singaporeans unimpressed by consistently poor showings

The under-22 team was not spared from criticism from Singaporeans, many of whom have watched the football team consistently stumble even against teams they are fancied to beat, such as Laos and Cambodia.

A comment said the people on top of the football association had to take the blame for the declining performances.

Another comment noted that Singapore had fallen behind regional rivals such as Myanmar and Laos, and pinned blame on management and players for the abysmal results.

Someone was more scathing, remarking that the only consistent result has been not exiting the group stage.

Unfortunately, if nothing changes, Singapore may fall further and further behind the pecking order, even within Southeast Asia.

Yesterday, the women’s team also failed to qualify from the group stage after a 1-0 loss to hosts Cambodia.

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Featured image adapted from Entertainment – Mediacorp on YouTube.