Welcoming Cambodia at home, the Singapore team is rated higher. In 9 meetings since 2005, the team of the “lion island nation” has always played overwhelmingly, winning 8 and losing only 1. In the AFF Cup arena alone, Singapore faced Cambodia twice and both times. win. However, the absence of a series of quality players, notably the three brothers Irfan Fandi, Ikhsan Fandi and Irfan Fandi, makes Singapore’s strength a big question.
On the opposite side, Cambodia was full of enthusiasm when holding off strong opponent Malaysia for 2-2 days. Coach Gyotoku Koji (Japanese) said that Cambodia has not yet shown its best strength and if the players can find a common voice, his team will be very formidable. Compared to the first day, coach Gyotoku Koji only made 2 changes, both in defense. At the same time, naturalized players such as Coulibaly, Ogawa Yudai, Mohammed Faeez Khan, Nick Taylor still play from the beginning and are expected to shine.
Just as fans expected, the Cambodian team continued to bring surprises when they entered the game excitedly and confidently held the ball to attack. In the 4th minute, Yudai Ogawa sent a warning to Singapore’s goal with a dangerous long shot.
However, while in a good position, the Cambodian team’s net suddenly shook after an unbelievable mistake by goalkeeper Vireak Dara. Starting from a simple pass from his teammate, the Cambodian guard missed the ball. Faced with a gift from the opponent, Faris Ramli easily kicked the ball into an empty net, helping Singapore open the score.
Not having time to recover from the loss, goalkeeper Vireak Dara for the second time did not handle his teammate’s return pass well in the 16th minute, creating conditions for Shawal Anuar to double the gap for Singapore.
Goalkeeper Vireak Dara made 2 unbelievable mistakes, helping Singapore (red shirt) have 2 easy goals
Receiving 2 consecutive goals, the Cambodian team had to push their attacking team higher. However, the away team had difficulty approaching Singapore’s goal and could not deploy their preferred short kicking style. Meanwhile, the two highest players, Coulibaly and Sieng Chanthea, were closely marked and always “starved for the ball”.
On the other hand, the midfield’s constant mispasses caused Cambodia’s opportunities to pass unfortunately. According to statistics of the specialized site Sofascorecoach Gyotoku Koji’s team made 178 passes in the first half but the accuracy rate was only about 80%. The best chance the away team created in this half was Ogawa Yudai’s free kick that hit the crossbar in the 34th minute.
The Cambodian team (blue shirt) did not show much when playing offensively
In the second half, the Cambodian team increased the pressure to find an equalizer. Coach Gyotoku Koji also made some adjustments to the attack, bringing on the field striker Sa Ty – the player who scored against Malaysia in the previous round. In the 59th minute, Sa Ty made an effort on the right wing and assisted Sieng Chanthea to shorten the score to 1-2 for Cambodia.
Sieng Chanthea’s goal was not enough for Cambodia to win points on Singapore’s field
After Sieng Chanthea’s goal, the Cambodian team still controlled the match. The away team played hard, held the ball nearly 60% and launched 9 more shots (3 times more than the Singapore team in the second half). However, the Cambodian team was powerless to penetrate Singapore’s net.
Meanwhile, the Singapore team proactively played defense throughout the second half. Coach Ogura Tsutomu’s team played hard, protecting their 2-1 lead until the end of the match, thereby winning the first 3 points at the AFF Cup. 2024.
Asean Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2024 is shown live and completely on FPT Play, at: http://fptplay.vn
