Monday, January 03, 2005 - :
Lions through to final after Myanmar self destruct
Headline
Singapore 4 (Zaw Lynn Tun 74-og, Noh Alam Shah 94, 96, Agu Casmir 108) Myanmar 2 (Soe Myat Min 15, Aung Kyaw Moe 50) aet; FT: 1-2; HT:0-1;
Singapore win 8-5 on aggregateTiger Cup semi-final, 2nd Leg
National Stadium, Singapore – Singapore booked their place in the final of the Tiger Cup 2004 for the first time since 1998, beating eight-man Myanmar in one of the most incident-packed games in the eight-year history of the tournament.
Singapore, ahead 4-3 after the first leg, fell two goals behind and looked to heading for an embarrassing exit to the supposed minnows of the tournament when a own goal from Zaw Lynn Tun gave them hope to 16 minutes left on the clock.
Then, with the game in the dying minutes, Indra Sahdan Daud was fouled in the Myanmar box and Zaw Lynn Tun was shown the red card, becoming the second Myanmar player to be sent-off following Yan Piang's dismissal on 71 minutes for two yellow cards. Moments later, Moe Kyaw Thu became the third to leave the field after protesting a little too vigourously at the penalty decision.
Once calm had been restored, Indra stepped up to take what should have been the penalty that sent the Lions into the final. But he missed, sending the game into extra time, where Myanmar’s eight men were powerless to stop Noh Alam Shah (two) and Agu Casmir from making Singapore's advantage count.
Singapore, leading 4-3 after the first leg, were unchanged from the game in Kuala Lumpur, Noh Alam Shah, who replaced the suspended Indra Sahdan Daud in the first leg, holding on to his place in the starting 11.
Myanmar, meanwhile, showed three changes, Khin Maung Tun, Kyaw Khing Win and Bo Bo Aung stepping aside for Aung Kyaw Myint, Myo Hlaing Win and Mar La.
Thanks to almost 48 hours of unrelenting rain in Singapore, the conditions made passing and running with the ball almost impossible and, as a result, the 30,000 hardy souls who braved the elements, and the millions watching across the region on television, witnessed a game littered with errors. Quite how the referee decided the pitch was playable is something of a mystery.
Myanmar took the lead after 15 minutes, Soe Myat Min, who scored two goals in the first leg, rifling a low shot past Lionel Lewis from 25 yards out.
It was a lead the visitors barely deserved as Singapore had dominated the opening exchanges, with Itmi Dickson making a nuisance of himself down the right flank and Agu Casmir stopped in his tracks when through on goal by one of the many puddles on the pitch.
Singapore, who were guilty on several occasions of not getting enough men forward, should have levelled on 22 minutes but a brilliant smothering save by Aung Aung Oo, the Myanmar keeper, denied Agu Casmir from six yards out.
Four minutes later, Noh Alam Shah had the ball in the net after brilliantly chesting down Casmir’s lofted pass over the Myanmar defence and prodding home, but the Japanese referee ruled the goal out for handball. It looked a harsh decision. Myanmar, who made much better use of the flanks than Singapore in the first half, could have gone into the break two up but Lewis just managed to get a hand to Soe Myat Min’s rasping drive from the right in the final minute of the half.
The second half got off to the worst possible start for the home side when Ivan Kolev’s side doubled the lead thanks to Aung Kyaw Moe’s deflected shot from just inside the area.
The Singapore defence should have cleared the danger when they had the chance but there was little Lewis could do once the ball hit Daniel Bennett’s left foot and spun wide of the unsighted keeper. The arrival of Noh Alam Shah in the 60th minute gave the home side new impetus and twice in as many minutes good work down the right by the Home United player saw Dickson and then Casmir come close to getting on the end of dangerous crosses.
The dismissal of Yan Piang for his second yellow card on 71 minutes turned the tide Singapore's way and took the pressure off the Singapore defence as Kolev was forced to reshuffle and play with just one man up front.
Just three minutes later, Singapore reduced the arrears, although they had a helping hand from Zaw Lynn Tun, who sliced the ball into the back of the his own net in an attempt to clear Noh Alam Shah’s goal-bound header.
Singapore dominated the last 15 minutes and had the chance to book their place in the final in the last minute when Indra was body-checked on the penalty spot by Zaw Lynn Tun. The referee immediately flashed the red card at the defender and pointed to the spot.
The decisions sparked furious protest among the Myanmar players, who surrounded the referee. In the melee, Moe Kywa Thu kicked mud at the official and was also shown the red card, reducing Myanmar to eight men. It was another five minutes before officials were to regain control of the game and Indra, who had sensibly stayed clear of the fracas, was given the go-ahead to take the penalty that would have taken Singapore into the final. Amazingly, he missed, the ball hitting the outside of the post to send the game into extra-time.
The final 30 minutes of the match was close to farce as Myanmar’s eight men tried valiantly to hold on for the penalty shoot-out. Unfortunately, they also spent quite a lot of the time trying to take out their frustration on the Singapore players.
The game was halted on several occasions for over-zealous tackles by Kolev’s side , and reached its nadir when substitute keeper Tun Tun Lin was sent off from the bench for thowing a bottle at the referee.
By this time, though, two goals from Noh Alam Shah and one from Casmir had given Singapore a lead they were never likely to lose, and a place in the final against Indonesia or Malaysia, who meet on Monday night.
Lai Min Dzi blogged at 10:26 pm