MANILA – They battled hard and ran themselves to the ground, but it was all in vain as Singapore suffered a cruel 1-0 defeat to Thailand in their Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup Group A match on Tuesday (Nov 22).

It was a typically disciplined and committed display by the Lions, who managed to contain the defending champions for the majority of the game at the Philippines Sports Stadium. And the Lions’ soak-and-counter strategy very nearly paid dividends, but poor finishing and good goalkeeping denied them an unlikely victory.

In the end, Singapore’s brave resistance was finally broken in the 89th minute when Thai substitute Sarawut Masuk jumped highest to plant a header past Lions custodian Hassan Sunny.

The result means that Singapore have made their worst-ever start — with just one point after two games — to an AFF championship.

Reflecting on the narrow defeat, Singapore head coach V Sundramoorthy said: “We almost got an important point for us ... we were just minutes away, but that’s football. We need to prepare ourselves for our next game against Indonesia, because we still have a chance of reaching the semis.

“We should have scored with the breaks if we had taken the right shots. It could have been a different game had we scored. But I’m proud of the boys. They got stuck in and played to the game plan. But we need to move on, because we can’t change anything now.”

Sundram had every right to be proud of his players. After all, while tournament favourites Thailand dominated possession right from the start, they always found it tough going against a disciplined Singapore side.

Whenever the Thais had the ball, Sundram’s men would drop deep into a compact shape as they sought to limit the space for their opponents to play in.

Indeed, the War Elephants struggled to get into their usual free-flowing rhythm going forward, and would often find their attacks breaking down before they even managed to get into the box.

Despite that, the Thais still had their moments and they had their first sight of goal in the 10th minute when playmaker Chanathip Songkrasin set Sirod Chatthong free on the left, but the striker’s effort from a tight angle was tame and comfortable for Hassan.

The Thais came closest to opening the scoring five minutes before the break when Chanathip’s pinpoint cross into the box found an unmarked Teerasil Dangda, who planted his header just wide with Hassan scrambling.

The Lions however, showed that they posed a threat on the counter, as on the stroke of half-time, winger Faris Ramli almost found himself through on goal following a pass from captain Hariss Harun, but the Home United star was unable to reach the ball ahead of Thai goalkeeper Kawin Thamasatchanan.

The second half began in similar fashion to the first, with the Thais unable to make any headway past the red wall of players who were perpetually banked in front of Hassan’s goal.

Instead, it was Singapore who created the better chances and they should have taken the lead in the 63rd minute when Juma’at Jantan found himself one-on-one with Kawin, but the wide man placed his effort wide.

That near-miss seemed to spark Thailand into life as, minutes later, Chanathip skipped past his marker in the box and fired a low shot at goal which Hassan got down well to keep out.

Sundram’s men grew in confidence as the game neared its conclusion and they fashioned another two good opportunities to score in the last five minutes of the game — the first fell to Amri, who broke free on the left but sent his shot straight at Kawin.

Left-back Shakir Hamzah had an even better chance two minutes later when he unleashed a fierce shot at goal from inside the box which Kawin tipped over. 

Then came the defining moment of the match, as Sarawut headed home a minute from time to break the hearts of the Singapore players, who sank to their knees and clutched their heads in despair.

Despite scoring only late on, Thai head coach Kiatisuk Senamuang insisted that he never once doubted during the game that his team would get the victory.

“Of course I believed even up to the 89th minute that we would win. Coaches need to believe until the very last minute,” the 43-year-old said. “Before the game, we knew they were very good defensively. 

“We played well today, our players knew their roles and we controlled the game, although it wasn’t easy to score. It was a tough match overall, but our players worked hard, that’s why we got the good result.”

The result means that the Thais, who beat Indonesia 4-2 in their previous game, become the first team to secure passage to the knockout stages of the tournament.

As for Singapore, they will need a victory in their game against Indonesia on Friday in order to stand a strong chance of achieving their semi-final target.