July 13, 2004

Playing Malaysia for the first time since their humiliating 2002 Tiger Cup 4-0 defeat at Kallang, the Lions down to 10 men, went down 2-0 in Kuala Lumpur.

Singapore coach Radojko "Raddy" Avramovic was scathing in his remarks after the game, saying the referee changed the face of the match as he never allowed either team to play football.

Also Raddy could not believed Singapore was not awarded a penalty with 15 minutes left of the game when Indra through on goal was brought down in the Malaysian box.

However Raddy know Singapore must live with that kind of decisions at times.

Raddy was also upset at the red card awarded to Tan Kim Leng as he felt Tan being  an experienced player should have kept his head & not be in that kind of situation.

That incident happened when Thai referee Waiyabot Anucha awarded a free-kick to the home side just outside the Singapore penalty box just before the break, an incensed Tan ran towards the official and had attempted to kick the ball in his direction. It hit team-mate Aide Iskandar instead, but the intent was good enough for the man in black to brandish the red card at the Tampines Rovers midfielder.

While there were no complaints with that decision, the Thai referee certainly incurred the wrath of Singapore, after he continuously awarded free-kicks & made some questionable decisions throughout the match.

FAS president Assoc Prof Ho who was at the match said he wanted Singapore players to play with passion but not in the action taken by Tan Kim Leng as intelligent on the pitch is needed as well.

He felt actions needed to taken against Tan as if he goes unpunished the discipline of the team would not be maintained.