Singapore national team, start in this tournament by win after slashed Malaysia 2-1 in the FAS Tri-Nation Series 2022 at Singapore national stadium, Kallang.
Venomous striker, Ikhsan Fandi is clearly a thorn in the flesh for the national squad after the son of Singapore football legend, Fandi Ahmad scored both of their goals.
Kim Pan Gon’s men, however, started the game quite fiercely when they got a golden opportunity to surprise the home fans as early as the first minute through Safiq Rahim.
However, the experienced midfielder’s ‘outside foot’ attempt after receiving a pass from Syafiq Ahmad in the penalty area was slightly off the right side of the Singapore goal.
Five minutes later, it was Safawi Rasid’s turn to test the Singapore goal which was controlled by Hassan Sunny but a long-range shot from a ‘one-two’ movement with Syafiq also missed.
The more game -dominating national squads continue to crave to hunt for the net. However, Hassan Sunny continued to defend in denying Safiq’s attempt in the 20th minute.
While the players of the national squad were so eager to put pressure, Singapore unexpectedly managed to get the opening goal in the 30th minute.
The goal came from a quick counter -attack that allowed Song Uiyong to cross to make it easier for Ikhsan Fandi to push the ball in to put Singapore ahead.
Shocked by the goal, the national squad improved their action to get an equalizer but still could not break down the immunity of Singapore’s defense until the end of the first half.
Entering the second half, Malaysia missed the opportunity to tie the score after a penalty kick taken by Safawi Rasid just stopped at the goal post in the 48th minute even though he had managed to deceive Hassan.
The long-awaited goal for the national squad finally came in the 57th minute when substitute Liridon Krasniqi calmly completed the opportunity in the penalty area after receiving a good pass from Akhyar Rashid.
Ikhsan Fandi proved his great ability after he cleverly passed the control of three national defenders into the penalty area which then fired a shot and beat Farizal Marlis to once again separate the positions.
The national squad was then strengthened with the inclusion of Arif Aiman Mohd Hanapi and Luqman Hakim Shamsudin but the efforts launched have not been able to prevent the victory of the Singapore.
Credit Photo : FAM
