Young Lions face gruelling fixture pile-up

The national Under-18 football team fell to a 3-1 defeat by Malaysia in their second Asean Football Federation (AFF) U-18 Championship Group A match in Yangon yesterday.

The Republic had started the tournament with a 5-3 win over Cambodia on Monday. But yesterday's defeat left them with an uphill task of qualifying for the knockout stage.

Malaysia are top of Group A with two wins out of two.

Thailand also maintained their 100 per cent record after a 2-1 win over Laos.

Singapore are third, with Timor Leste the other team in the six-team Group A.

Only the top two teams from each of the two groups progress to the semi-finals.

Singapore next play Laos tomorrow, Thailand on Sunday, before ending the group stage with Timor Leste next Tuesday.

The best performance by a Singapore side at the AFF U-18 Championships was in 2003, when a squad featuring Khairul Amri and Fazrul Nawaz finished third.