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Countdown to 6th Jan 2010....Part One: Singapore Selection 0-0 Oman Selection

The refurbished Bishan Stadium is the venue of this two-game friendly series

The national team and the visiting Omani squad kicked start their two-game friendly series with a 0-0 draw at the refurbished Bishan Stadium.

Just like any prep game for bigger match that follows, it was used a platform for some experimental play and fine-tuning of some issues that coach Raddy would like to remedy who is also facing some problem such as the absence of Arema Malang striker Noh Alam Shah and Home United's Shi Jiayi, both are still on the casualty list.

Khairul Amri (12) and Alek Duric (9) hope to establish a telepathic understanding

As such, skipper Indra Sahdan Daud was deployed on the right flank with Aleksandar Duric and his new Tampines striking partner Khairul Amri leading the attack upfront. While Hariss Harun and Fahrudin Mustafic (who missed a penalty that would have given us the game in the 37th minute) were tasked to nullify any Omani threat in the middle.

Mustafic (15) tussled the ball, while Hariss (21) and Shahril Ishak (17) look on

But the problem is that, given the similar playing style these two players possess (both holding defensive midfielders, correct me if I'm wrong), would it caused a confusion? Or unless there's clear define of responsibility.

Amri knows very well his dare to take on defenders from the flanks is crucial.

Nonetheless, the absence of attacking players such as Jiayi and John Wilkinson does limited the Lions' attacking options, which is not wonder during the play of the game, the Singapore selection built much their offenses deep from their half and trying to catch the visitors on the counter-attacks.

The Omani defence were equally up to their task against the Singaporeans' attack

Masrezwan Masturi (pictured above) provided a bit of spark when he came in the second half.

On the other hand, the defensive trio of Baihakki Khaizan, Precious Emuejeraye and Daniel Bennett did not commit any significant blunders against the Omani, who were actively making their foray with their quick passing and swift movement of the ball.

PICTURES AT THE POST MATCH PRESS CONFERENCE
Oman coach Claude Le Roy (pictured above) said he and his team only arrived in Singapore yesterday, and coupled with the fact that he is without 10 of his regular players are some of the problems he faced in their Asian Cup Qualifier preparation.

He added he had instructed his team to play as a compact unit by not giving away too much space in the midfield that allowed Singapore to fall into the offside traps.

Coach Raddy (pictured above) said the defence played well tonight, although his team was facing difficulty in moving the ball forward. Playing against Oman is a good preparation for the Iranian clash next month as both these teams share similar qualities in terms of physical and playing style.

Comments

  1. Wonderful to see pictures and comments from the game. Thanks for providing the link to Singapore football for all Singaporeans overseas :)

    I'm not sure how similar the Oman team will be in style to Iran, as 10 of their first team players are out according to the coach Claude Le Roy. That will definitely change the style of play quite a bit, won't it?

    Regardless, I'm looking forward to another set of impressive performances come Dec 31 and Jan 6.

    GO LIONS GO!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Pohui, is the floodlighting system improved at Bishan Stadium? I really hope more and more stadiums in S'pore has the minimum lux levels set by afc so we have better pictures in the media. More importantly, televised games can be played at other stadiums instead of JBS all the time.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi "icedwater",

    But the so-called "below-strength" Omani gave themselves a good account that the our defence were equally up to task in large part of the game.

    I see the Omani's reason of coming to Singapore is to get themselves acclimatise.

    Hi "monster",

    Being one of the venue for the YOG, it's no surprise the facilities at Bishan Stadium is upgraded to "certain kind of standard".

    It's indeed a dream for photographers as compared to venue like National Stadium or Toa Payoh Stadium

    ReplyDelete

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