 |
| Watched the match at "Botak Jones" near SPH instead |
I think those who saw the match just now on TV would agree that bad decisions against us had cost us dearly at Kunming.
Already handicapped by the climate that bogged both sides, the controversial call by the referee (Andre El Haddad of Lebanon) in the second half on several decisions must had fumed a lot of folks back here with two dubious penalty decisions that eventually paved the way to an unglamorous win for the hosts.
But the defeat came with a heavy price with 'keeper Izwan Mahbud twisted his left ankle and several yellow card decisions accumulated in the process.
It's definitely not a good start to the campaign, but not at the expenses of having a biased official calling all the shots!
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Coach Raddy Avramovic said “I would like to thank all my players for putting in a great effort. We started and played well in the first half and could have scored more than one goal. In the 2nd half, China came back and managed to win by a one-goal margin.”
Goalkeeper Lionel Lewis, who came on in the second half for the injured Izwan, also shared his thoughts on the match: ”I tried my best and managed to save one of the penalties, but I feel that we should let this game pass and focus on our preparation for the next game.”
The Lions are scheduled to arrive home from Kunming on Saturday's night before getting themselves prepare for their next match against Iraq on this coming Tuesday night at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
(Quotes were extracted from the official FAS media information released shortly after the match)
I thought it was an absolutely disgraceful of handling of the match by the official.
ReplyDeleteWhile both sides may seems to struggle to cope with the climate, the two dubious penalty decisions set the tone to see the Chinese won the game unconvincingly which my peers opined that changed the direction of the match and more or less affected the Lions mentally.
Most referees will always be bias towards the home team but I bet we weren't prepared at how bias this ref is going to be.
ReplyDeleteBut, if we need to reflect at how we play too. The Lions were giving the Chinese players too much space and possessions. They should have played like how they did against Msia.
All we could do now is stand by our Lions for the next match against Iraq and pray for a win.