SINGAPORE — The adage “offence wins games, defence wins championships” is one that is commonly used in the world of football.

From Greece’s incredible victory at the 2004 European Championships, to Jose Mourinho’s title-winning Chelsea sides in 2005, 2006 and 2015, there have been many examples of a team’s strong defence helping it win titles and championships.

It is also a saying that the Singapore national football team appears to have paid close attention to as they gear up for their opening AFF Suzuki Cup game against the Philippines in Manila tomorrow evening.

Indeed, with the Lions struggling for goals, scoring just four in their past eight international friendly matches, how well they manage to keep out their opponents in the biennial Asean tournament will likely prove crucial in determining whether they progress to the knockout stages.

But it will not be an easy task for Singapore.

After all, they have been drawn in the proverbial “Group of Death” alongside hosts Philippines, Indonesia and defending champions Thailand, who on Tuesday recorded a morale-boosting 2-2 draw against Australia in the World Cup qualifiers.

However, with national coach V Sundramoorthy (Sundram) calling up to 10 defenders — all of whom are expected to survive the final cut — for the tournament, there is plenty of depth, quality and experience in the backline to handle all comers.

National vice-captain Hariss Harun believes this will be one of their biggest strengths heading into the tournament.

“I think we have quite a settled backline, and we have experience at the heart of defence,” the Johor Darul Ta’zim midfielder told TODAY. “We have Baihakki (Khaizan) and Daniel (Bennett), both of whom have over 200 caps between them.

“Then there is goalkeeper Hassan (Sunny) behind them, and we know how reliable he is.

“So, the centre of defence is very settled and stable. We also have several full-backs who can fit into the team and do a job whenever they need to, while if there are any injuries, the backup players have also shown that they are capable of filling in as well.

“So, overall, the team is very confident in our backline.”

With Sundram having used the previous friendly matches to rotate his defence, Singapore goalkeeper Hassan Sunny claims that he is now comfortable playing behind any defensive combination.

“Coach has been rotating a few defenders for the past few games, especially the centre-backs,” said the 32-year-old, who spent the past year playing for Army United in the Thai Premier League.

“It’s good because I’m now comfortable with each of their different styles and am familiar with their weaknesses and strengths.

“There is definitely healthy competition in that department and everyone’s working hard to try to break into the first-team.”

Agreeing, centre-back Madhu Mohana added that the defenders in the team have forged a strong understanding of each other.

“I’m pretty comfortable in defence because most of us have been together for years,” explained Madhu, who currently turns out for S.League side Warriors FC.

“You look at the backline — players like Baihakki, Daniel, Juma’at (Jantan) and Faritz (Hameed) — we’ve been playing as team-mates, be it at club or national level, for quite long already so we know each other’s style, and this (understanding) will help us tremendously.”

However, Baihakki insists that while it is important to keep a tight ship at the back, the team must also convert their chances in order to achieve their target of reaching the semi-finals.

“The defence is important, but so is goal scoring,” said the 32-year-old.

“We have to score more in the group stage especially, because it’ll count towards goal difference. So there is a need to balance ourselves as a team to be tight at the back but also deadly in front of goal.”

The fact the Lions will head into the tournament with such a strong defence comes as no surprise to former Singapore international John Wilkinson.

The 37-year-old believes that with Sundram in charge, coupled with the fact the team will be going up against technically-sound opponents such as Thailand and the Philippines, the Lions will adopt a counter-attacking strategy for the tournament. And a strong defence is paramount in order for that strategy to work.

“Now that Sundram has come in, he’ll bring an identity back to Singapore,” said Wilkinson, who is a football analyst at Fox Sports.

“Under former coach Bernd Stange, the Lions lacked an identity and they didn’t seem to suit whatever style he was trying to impose.

“However, Sundram has worked under Raddy Avramovic before and you can see from the way he used to set up his LionsXII side that he is likely to play a counter-attacking game.

“So don’t expect Singapore to dominate possession. Instead, they will stay strong at the back, soak up the pressure, and then look to counter using the pace on the flanks.

“So the key will be for them to defend really well in the first place.”

SINGAPORE’S OPTIONS IN DEFENCE

Baihakki Khaizan, 32 years old, Centre-back, Johor Darul Ta’zim II

Daniel Bennett, 38, Centre and left-back, Geylang International

Juma’at Jantan, 32, Right and left-back, Home United

Madhu Mohana, 25, Centre and right-back, Warriors FC

Afiq Yunos, 25, Centre-back Tampines Rovers

Faritz Hameed, 26, Right-back, Geylang

Hafiz Sujad, 26, Left-back, Tampines

Shakir Hamzah, 24, Centre and left-back, Tampines

Mustafic Fahrudin, 35, Centre-back, Tampines

Nazrul Nazari. 25, right-back, Hougang United

SINGAPORE’S FIXTURES:

Saturday: v Philippines (8pm)

Nov 22: v Thailand (4.30pm)

Nov 25: v Indonesia (8pm)