Bernd Stange's competitive start as the Singapore national coach hit a snag with a 2-0 loss to Oman in the Asian Cup Qualifiers at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
Two goals in the first half well deemed enough for the Middle-easterners to bag all three bags to ease the burden of their coach Paul Le Guen following their failure to qualify for the World Cup earlier.
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| Qasim Said (2nd from right) scored the first goal |
Fifteen minutes into play saw Qasim Said making inroads from the right into the Lions fortress before unleashing a low drive past Izwan Mahbud to give the visitors the lead.
The Omanis doubled their tally before the end of the first half with a well-taken shot from outside through Eid Al-Farsi to put the game beyond doubt for the jaded hosts.
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| Safuwan Baharudin (21) head to head with Abdul Aziz (9) |
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| Lions were struggling to contain the Omanis' swift plays |
The Lions tried to play the "passing-and-dominating" type of game the German tactician has been preaching since his arrival in May, but the 5,000 odd crowds at JBS saw possession was passed around in their own half most of the time instead.
The missing piece on the Lions' chessboard was the latching player that was supposed to link the defence to the upfront that resulted limited penetration for the men in red, except for a few notable free-kicks that had hardly threatened their opponents.
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| Qiu Li's (16) free kick missed the target in second half |
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| Shahril Ishak (right) finds it tough going against Oman |
Acknowledged the issue in the post-match press conference, Coach Stange said:"We hold the ball too long in our own half which we can't switch it to a killer pass to their half, but please believe me that we can make it to the next step, however, it takes time to improve and find the game we want (to play).
"It's quite clear to everyone we want to win this game, it's not as bad as it is seen
with the possession we dominated in the game and I felt that the second goal was a killer that we don't have the physical power to change the game." added the former Iraq national coach.
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| Lions coach Stange remains confident and positive after loss |
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| Oman's coach Paul Le Guen - burden off his shoulders |
Meanwhile, a relieved Paul Le Guen greeted the media to give his take on his side's win.
"We did the job" said the former PSG coach in his opening statement.
"First half was average but it was efficient, whereas the second half I felt my team played better but did not score; our aim is to qualify and it's important to win away especially we are playing on artificial pitch but it is an improvement so we deserved the win." concluded the Frenchman.
The 2-0 result had the Omanis remained at the top of Group A on a 100% record, while Singapore remained anchored at the foot after their second defeat in the qualifiers.
Painful watchin the team last nite...spend so long time passin the ball around, sideways and backwards in their own half instead of movin forward...AND SAME old bad habits surface again when players get frustrated not knowin what to do with the ball they resort to hackin the ball blindly on a many occassion which give the omanis possession..clearly shows the lack of confidence in players, they hardly threaten the omanis and created any chance..Omanese not even in full gear hardly break a sweat, just a few touches spread the play and already created dangerous openin into singapore box... Nothin wrong with the coach, all is wrong with the players.. this is not press and soak that we are talkin about..this is school boys startin out to learn to pass the ball around lol...My bet pacific islands football teams can play better than singapore.
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