Lions nearly did it
Sundram's men must forget unlucky loss and switch to attack mode on Friday
I know what my co-analyst and former Thailand coach Steve Darby said on TV, that the War Elephants' win over the Lions was a moral victory.
I think he meant this was a moral victory for football in the sense that the more adventurous side won.
It is very easy to say Singapore could have done this or that differently to get a positive result.
But right now, Singapore are just not in a position to go toe-to-toe with a slick-passing and swift-attacking Thailand.
The Lions simply don't have the personnel or the confidence to do so.
The football is not pretty to watch but when V Sundramoorthy was appointed, did you expect anything else?
You know what you are going to get: A very well-organised, defensively-tight unit who hit on the counter attack.
Like I said earlier, on the international stage it is not about pretty football, especially not in tournaments like this.
It is all about getting points and progressing as far as you can.
And it so nearly worked against Thailand.
Singapore played better than they did in the 0-0 draw against the Philippines and perhaps taking on better opponents brought the best out of them defensively.
The irony is Singapore actually lost the match because they went for the win instead of sitting on the draw.
For the goal, they were caught in the transition from attack to defence.
Izzdin Shafiq, Juma'at Jantan and Shakir Hamzah all had clear chances to score for Singapore, but unfortunately the opportunities fell to players who have never scored for the Lions, instead of Khairul Amri or Faris Ramli.
They couldn't convert and they were punished for it.
I also said Thailand are the only team in South-east Asia who have a Plan A and Plan B and that was proven when they relied on crosses from the flanks after failing to break down Singapore's defence with their passing game.
The Lions have no option now except to go for the win against Indonesia on Friday.
Obviously, they have to score.
The thing is, they have not found the net for two group games now and the longer they go without scoring, the harder it gets.
It is definitely a millstone around their necks.
For me, Khairul Amri is still the go-to man for goals, but I would like to see more from his team mates.
Perhaps the Lions can be a little bit more adventurous with Faris.
He is fast and ready to pounce, and he looked sharp and lively last night.
So, instead of defending behind the ball, he should be on the other side of the ball and go for goals.
I would also love to see Hariss Harun break the midfield line with the ball, which is something we haven't seen him do for the national team for some time.
Looking at Singapore's options on the bench, striker Sahil Suhaimi has the type of pace which opponents find hard to live with.
We have seen him score vital goals for the LionsXII in occasions like the Malaysian FA Cup final and he could produce something special.
Gabriel Quak could also trouble Indonesia with his pace and delivery. The thing about Gabriel is there is never a grey area with him.
He is either not involved or he is brilliant.
Singapore could do with one of his good games.
With Singapore needing goals and points, this is really the time for Sundram to twist instead of sticking to his usual plan.
- John Wilkinson is a former Singapore international midfielder who collected 29 caps and four international goals from 2007 to 2010.
- FOX Sports is proud to be the exclusive pay-TV broadcaster for the 11th edition of the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup. The biennial championship gathers South-east Asia's top national teams to vie to be crowned kings of football in the region. FOX Sports will be showing all 18 games live on both its network and its online FOX Sports Play offering. Leading the team in the FOX Sports studio will be industry veteran Steve Dawson and former Singapore international John Wilkinson, with insights from former Suzuki Cup coaches, Steve Darby and record three-time title-winning coach, Radojko "Raddy" Avramovic.
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