Singapore shocked and fell to the 'underdog' of Vietnam team

Gillespye's only goal

In the match that just ended on the evening of March 21, Singapore played at the National Stadium with a capacity of more than 50,000 spectators. They fielded a very strong squad with names that made the success of the 2024 ASEAN Cup such as Nakamura, Lionel Tan...

On the other side of the front line is an unknown team, with many players who have not played professionally for the past 2 years because the Nepalese national championship is organized intermittently, only taking place once every few years due to financial difficulties. Nepal is in Group F of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers with Vietnam, Laos and Malaysia. They are considered the "bottom team" in the group.

Despite these disadvantages, the South Asian team still brought a stable and cohesive style of play that left Singapore helpless. Even in the 12th minute, Nepal opened the scoring with a goal by Gillespye. This player received a cross from his teammate and made a tricky low shot that defeated the Singapore goalkeeper.

Singapore is helpless against Nepal's defense system

Conceding a shocking goal, Singapore fought back to find an equalizer and then came back to win. They kept the ball thoroughly, pushing their opponents back into their own half. But as usual, Singapore's style of play was still lacking in variation. They were too dependent on their Japanese-born playmaker, Nakamura.

All of Singapore's attacks went through this player. That was the basis for Nepal to easily intercept. They closely marked Nakamura, so Singapore did not often create breakthrough plays.

The home team accepted to temporarily leave the field with a 0-1 loss. In the second half, this team strengthened their attack by bringing in bright options such as Fandi, Ramli... However, Singapore's coordination still did not improve and in rare situations where they could have scored, they missed.

In the end, Singapore extended their forgettable streak with a 0-1 defeat to Nepal, a team 15 places below them in the FIFA rankings. Remember, in the last 11 matches, Nepal lost 8 and won only 2, 1 of which came from Singapore.

Dang Lai