Singapore advance to ASEAN football championship semi-finals after draw with Indonesia

SINGAPORE: The Lions advanced to the ASEAN football championship semi-finals on Friday (Aug 7) after a 1-1 home draw with Indonesia.

At the Jalan Besar Stadium, a 66th-minute Ilhan Fandi equaliser was enough to seal Singapore’s progression to the tournament semi-finals after Ragnar Oratmangoen put the away side ahead in the 47th minute.

Singapore will face the winners of Group B, which comprises Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Myanmar and Laos. With the final round of group games on Saturday, Thailand currently top the group with nine points.

The result means that the Lions remain unbeaten in the tournament with eight points from four games. They finish second in Group A, behind Vietnam. Vietnam beat Cambodia 3-1 on Friday night.

The Lions started their campaign with victories over Cambodia (2-1) and Timor-Leste (2-0) before a 0-0 away draw with Vietnam.

The Lions, ranked 148th in the world, went into Friday’s clash knowing that they would progress if they avoided defeat against the 118th-ranked Indonesia.

This is the second consecutive edition of the tournament where the Lions have progressed past the group stages.

At the last edition, the Lions, then coached by Tsutomu Ogura, made it to the semi-finals but bowed out after falling 5-1 on aggregate to eventual winners Vietnam.

In front of a crowd of 5,113, Indonesia almost got the perfect start with less than two minutes played. Towering teenager Mitchell Baker raced through on goal after some tentative defending, but Shah Shahiran pulled off a heroic block to stop a certain goal.

Singapore were not just content to sit back and defend, with Song Ui-young firing a shot from outside the box minutes later that was blocked.

It was Song again who had the Lions' next chance, but his effort off a Lionel Tan cross was pushed away by Indonesia goalkeeper Cahya Supriadi.

The away side continued to threaten and it was Baker again who posed the biggest threat. He could have got on the scoresheet with a header if not for a top save from Izwan Mahbud.

With the game opening up, the Lions went down the other end and an acrobatic Ilhan flick was clawed away by Supriadi.

Indonesia had to press for a goal and almost got one in the 36th minute, but a Jacob Mahler block kept things level.

The away side got their lead just two minutes into the start of the second half as Oratmangoen bundled home from close range with his second stab of the ball.

Things could have got worse for the Lions as they looked to have been reduced to 10 men in the 58th minute after Song received his second yellow.

However, the red card was overturned after a review by the video assistant referee.

Singapore were down but not out. They got their equaliser in the 66th minute courtesy of an Ilhan strike after Supriadi collided with his own defender and spilt the ball.

Indonesian fans thought they had a winner in the 78th minute as substitute Rizky Eka Pratama was played through on goal but he blasted into the side netting.

While Indonesia kept pushing for a goal, Lee's side held on and notched a memorable result to seal their progression.

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