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| Singapore's brave run at the 2024 ASEAN Championship came to an end on Thursday as a 3-1 defeat to Vietnam saw them lose 5-1 on aggregate in the semifinals. HOANG ANH/AFP via Getty Images |
At the end of the day, this Singapore team probably were not ready to mount a legitimate title challenge at the ASEAN Championship just yet.
And it proved to be the case.
Reaching the semifinals was already an achievement in itself and that proved to be as far as they would get, after a 3-1 loss at Việt Trì Stadium on Sunday completed a 5-1 aggregate defeat at the hands of Vietnam.
The damage had already been done three days earlier when they were unable to make the most of home advantage.
Given the monumental task that is getting a result away to Vietnam, Singapore really needed a win at Jalan Besar Stadium on Thursday. A draw would have been the bare minimum.
Yet, having done so well to match it with their more-illustrious opponents for 90 minutes, Singapore would concede twice deep into added time to suffer a costly defeat.
Even with a mountain to climb, the aptly-nicknamed Lions refused to go away without a fight in the return encounter.
Just as it was in the first leg, there was plenty of controversy on Sunday.
Getting on the front foot from the opening whistle, Singapore thought they had given themselves a lifeline after just ten minutes.
A long throw from Lionel Tan was flicked on by Safuwan Baharudin and, after Shawal Anuar's initial effort had been blocked by Nguyễn Đình Triệu, Faris Ramli was able to guide a follow-up header into the back of the net despite the combined attempts of Bùi Tiến Dũng and Nguyễn Thành Chung to clear it off the line.
The goal was immediately ruled out, however, and after a lengthy VAR review, it was deemed that Faris had just strayed marginally offside. The amount of time it took the officials to make the decision suggested it was a close one.
11 minutes later, it was Vietnam's turn to have a strike chalked off. This time, it did not take as long to confirm that Châu Ngọc Quang had illegally climbed on the back of Nazrul Nazari en route to sending a header into the far corner.
And as was the case three days earlier, the visitors will be aggrieved by the manner in which a penalty was awarded against them in the 41st minute even though it was technically a correct decision.
Tan had dragged down Rafaelson inside the area as a ball was played into the area but the overhit delivery was nowhere in the vicinity of the incident, although the Singapore defender only had himself to blame for putting himself at risk of being penalised.
It paved the way for Rafaelson to send Izwan Mahbud the wrong way from the spot and, all of a sudden, the Lions had an even bigger mountain to climb.
The contest was effectively over two minutes after the hour mark when Vietnam doubled their tally for the evening.
Embarking on an industrious charge down the left byline, Nguyễn Hoàng Đức forced his way past both Amirul Adli and Tan before his low ball into the six-yard box was inadvertenly diverted by a desperate Safuwan to the back post, where Rafaelson gleefully accepted a simple tap-in from two yards out.
Still, Singapore refused to give up.
12 minutes later, they gave themselves the slimmest of lifelines -- a deserved consolation, at the very least -- when Kyoga Nakamura was afforded too much space at the edge of the box and fired away a speculative effort that took a deceptive bounce in front of Đình Triệu before going in off the post.
Nonetheless, Vietnam would have the last say with another penalty awarded in the first minute of injury-time when Nguyễn Văn Vĩ pounced on a loose ball in the area and was poised to charge through before being bundled over by Adli, allowing Nguyễn Tiến Linh to make it 5-1 on aggregate.
It was a hefty margin of victory for Vietnam -- one that arguably did not provide an accurate representation of the fight that Singapore had given them.
Ultimately, they were one of the frontrunners even before the tournament started. Rightfully, there are marching on to the final.
But just as they had been in getting this far, Singapore were valiant even as they bowed out of the tournament.
The Lions can head home with their heads held high.
- Gabriel Tan
