Singapore coach: "Mistakes caused us to be punished by the Vietnamese team"

(Dan Tri) - Singapore suffered a 0-2 defeat to the Vietnamese team at Jalan Besar Stadium in the first leg of the AFF Cup 2024 semi-finals on the evening of December 26. After the match, coach Tsutomu Ogura expressed regret at conceding a goal in the last minute.

Speaking after the match, Singapore coach Tsutomu Ogura shared: "This match was also very dramatic, I felt like watching a movie. After VAR, the goal was denied and then the penalty. In the last minutes of extra time, we conceded 2 goals. Football is not a game that is limited to 90 minutes. The Vietnamese and Singaporean teams both had opportunities, but the Vietnamese team took advantage of them and punished Singapore. That was the difference in this match". "The match lasted too long, nearly 15 minutes of extra time, making the Singaporean players tired and losing the necessary concentration. My players also lacked experience in preventing the second goal", the Japanese strategist regretted the result of the match.

HLV Singapore: Sai lầm khiến chúng tôi bị tuyển Việt Nam trừng phạt - 1 — Coach Tsutomu Ogura regrets the defeat of the Singapore team (Photo: FAS).

Ahead of the return match on December 29 in Viet Tri (Phu Tho), coach Tsutomu Ogura is still optimistic: "The most important thing now is that the players must focus on recovering in time to regain their fitness for the return match. The semi-finals are still ongoing, not over yet. We still have a chance to reach the final." Facing Singapore at Jalan Besar Stadium, the Vietnamese team faced many difficulties for most of the first half. The pressure from the home team made the Vietnamese defense confused at times and coach Kim Sang Sik's team almost conceded a goal. The second half was balanced, with Singapore dominating the ball at times with more than 60%. The highlight of the match came in the 89th minute when Nguyen Xuan Son scored against Singapore, but after checking VAR technology, the Korean referee did not recognize the goal. It seemed like the two teams would end the match in a draw, but in the 90+8 minute, the Singapore defenders and goalkeeper did not coordinate well and to prevent Xuan Son from scoring, Hamzah grabbed the ball. The Vietnamese team was awarded a penalty and Tien Linh defeated goalkeeper Mahbud, opening the score. Exactly two minutes later, from a corner kick, Xuan Son scored from close range while the Singapore defense did not have time to react, sealing a 2-0 victory for the Vietnamese team. Coach Kim Sang Sik and his team have many advantages before the second leg of the semi-final on December 29 at Viet Tri Stadium (Phu Tho).