December 15, 2004

Singapore take on Cambodia at the Lach Tray Stadium knowing that a win against the Group A whipping boys will take them to the semi-finals of the Tiger Cup for the only the first since winning the competition in 1998.

After draws with group hosts Vietnam (1-1) & Indonesia (0-0), Singapore recorded it biggest ever win in Tiger Cup history with a 6-2 thrashing of Laos & now a victory, big or small, over Cambodia would guaranteeing them second place in the group.

That will complete the first task ahead & achieved the FAS target of a semi-final slot.

To Raddojko Avramovic though, apart from that he is hoping for a better performance against the Cambodians.

Avramovic said we will be going for the three points & hoping for a similar result like we got against Laos but the players must take the game more seriously & play with more discipline. The game against Laos was not easy to play & some players relaxed & expected others to do their job for them. We cannot have this attitude.

Also he felt Cambodia would be more defensively than Laos packing their defence knowing Singapore need the 3 points so we have to go out to get them but if we played like against Laos we will be in the semi-final & still lose.

Still though no surprise is expected as the form book points to a Singapore victory, with a porous Cambodian defence having already leaked 19 goals in their 3 Group A matches. Also in their previous meetings in the Tiger Cup, Singapore have laboured but have nevertheless expected victories. In 2000  the Lions’ scraped to a 1-0 while in the qualifying round of Singapore’s victorious 1998 campaign  Singapore defeated Cambodia 2-0

Returning captain Iskander would settle for a similar score line to any of the other meetings as he said he have confidence that this team can get the three points but we have to be focused. We must be switched on for 90 minutes. It does not matter if we only win 1-0 or who scores as long as we win.