SINGAPORE – Keep calm and trust ourselves.
That is interim Singapore coach Gavin Lee’s message for his charges after his debut as the Lions’ tamer ended in a 2-1 loss to Malaysia in an international friendly at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium on Sept 4.
The hosts, whose starting XI comprised mainly foreign-born players, led 2-0 through goals by Stuart Wilkin and Joao Figueiredo, before substitute Ilhan Fandi halved the deficit in the second half.
In a broadcast interview right after the match, the 34-year-old Lee said: “We should trust ourselves a little bit more. I thought there were some very good phases from us, both in attack and defence, but it’s just about repeating it, and I think that requires a little bit of calmness, a little more trust in what we do.
“But it’s the first step in our journey, and I’m sure we will continue to improve.”
He sang a similar tune at the post-match conference when asked for the lessons learnt from the loss.
Lee, who said the players were “quite disappointed with the result”, added: “We always play to win, and we definitely wanted to win. But in terms of the process, the performance that we put out there, there were… quite a lot of good phases.
“But I think unfortunately, we weren’t calm enough in the critical moment. And I think that’s a consequence of us not trusting ourselves more. I thought that when we were less conscious about what we’re trying to do, we played a lot better.”
The Lions will get to apply what they learnt on Sept 9, when they host Myanmar in a closed-door friendly.
The Causeway derby was the 159th-ranked Lions’ first game under Lee, who was appointed after Japanese tactician Tsutomu Ogura stepped down in June, citing personal reasons.
The Football Association of Singapore has already interviewed at least two candidates to be the next permanent Lions coach.
But all signs currently point to Lee, who was Singapore Premier League side BG Tampines Rovers’ coach from 2019 to June 2025, continuing as interim coach when the Lions meet India in back-to-back Asian Cup qualifiers on Oct 9 (home) and 14 (away).
With four matches left, Singapore are top of Group C on goals scored ahead of Hong Kong (four points), Bangladesh and India, who have a point apiece.
Only the group winners will advance to the 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia. Singapore have never qualified for the Asian Cup on merit, with their only appearance coming as hosts in 1984.
Against Malaysia, Lee made four changes from the Lions’ last outing – a 2-1 win over Bangladesh in June – as Glenn Kweh, Kyoga Nakamura, Irfan Fandi and Shawal Anuar were handed starting berths in a 4-3-3 set up.
The 125th-ranked Harimau Malaya made an energetic and purposeful start to proceedings as they pinned the red-clad Lions back.
The home side then made the early pressure count when they took the lead in the 26th minute.
Sabah’s England-born wing back Wilkin skilfully brought down a lofted through-ball in the box from Brazil-born attacking midfielder Endrick with his chest and smashed the ball past goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud.
Wilkin turned provider in the 55th minute when his cross from the right flank saw Brazil-born striker Figueiredo ghost in unmarked in between Ryhan and Harhys Stewart before applying an easy finish from close range.
Lee felt that the Lions got slightly drawn out for both goals, adding: “For the second one, we could have dealt with the cross a little bit better. But again, these are learning lessons, and we’ve got to take it and make sure we improve from it.”
The Lions stayed in the game and looked for openings, with a moment to cheer coming in the 73rd minute.
Japan-born midfielder Nakamura won a header in midfield and the ball fell to substitute Ilhan, who struck a long-range effort from almost 25 metres out to pull one back for the Lions.
For the first time all evening, the largely Malaysian supporters among the 22,329 spectators fell silent as Ilhan rushed back to his half and urged his teammates on for a late push.
But the nervy hosts held on for the slender victory.
Ilhan, who had come on for his brother Ikhsan in the 71st minute, said: “I’m just really happy that I could score, but it was not enough to help the team. But I think today, the performance was good. We’re just really unlucky.
“Malaysia are a really good side also, but I think we have to improve even more for the upcoming qualifiers… we have to look at what we did wrong, and we have to come back stronger for the next window against India.”
Malaysia coach Peter Cklamovski, who has now overseen three wins and a draw since taking over, said he was not surprised that the Lions gave his side a tough time.
The Australian said: “It was expected, we don’t expect any easy game in international football. The players had to work hard together. There were periods of the game where we had to grind the performance out defensively, and we got a little bit of rhythm in patches in attack.
“And you could see when we got the ball in the right areas, with the runs that we like to make, it’s dangerous and hard to stop. And again, it was a night we could have scored a few more goals, for sure. But the players’ mentality is inspiring for me, and they have this mentality to inspire the nation, to drive Malaysian football forward, and we’ll continue to do that.”
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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
