Singapore, Myanmar to play in triangular
SINGAPORE – Singapore and Myanmar are to compete in a football triangular with Hong Kong later this month as part of their final preparations for the Tiger Cup 2004.
The round-robin mini-tounament, the Tiger International Football Festival, will take place at SingaporeÂ’s Jalan Besar Stadium from November 27 to December 2, concluding just a week before the commencement of the Tiger Cup in Vietnam and Malaysia.
The two South East Asian sides will meet at Jalan Besar on November 27 and Singapore will then take on Hong Kong two days later before departing for Vietnam, where they meet Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos and the hosts in Group A.
Myanmar, who are in Group B with Thailand, Philippines, Timor Leste and hosts Malaysia, meet Hong Kong on December 2 before leaving for Kuala Lumpur to begin their Tiger Cup campaign.
Veteran Win looks to lead Myanmar youngsters
SINGAPORE – After a four-year exile from the Myanmar national team, striker Myo Hlaing Win is to make a welcome return to international football when he lines up against Singapore in a Tiger Cup warm-up match on Saturday.
Win has not appeared for his country since the 2000 Tiger Cup but his excellent form for Finance & Revenue Club this season has earned the 31-year-old a recall by new Myanmar coach Ivan Kolev and an opportunity to reach the 50-goal mark in international football.
“I’m very happy to be playing for the national team again at the Tiger Cup. I scored 46 international goals when I played for Myanmar from 1989 to 2000 and I would very much like to get to 50,” said Win, a veteran of three Tiger Cups.
As the most senior member of MyanmarÂ’s 22-man squad, Win will offer some much-needed experience to a team that features 10 teenagers and only three players over the age of 22. However, the newly-appointed national skipper believes that his side could offer a few surprises when they meet defending champions Thailand, hosts Malaysia, Timor Leste and Philippines in their Group B matches Kuala Lumpur.
“It will be tough for us to get results especially against Thailand and Malaysia. However, we have a lot of talented young players in this team and I think that we can do well.
“We will be playing four games in Singapore during the next week to prepare for the Tiger Cup. Hopefully, we can enjoy some good performances here and bring some confidence with us to Kuala Lumpur for the tournament,” added Win.
The warm-up matches in Singapore against the national teams of Singapore and Hong Kong, and S.League sides Singapore Armed Forces and Tampines Rovers will be the first opportunity for new coach Ivan Kolev to get the measure of his side against international opposition.
“We have only seen the players in action in the Myanmar league so far, so these warm-up games in Singapore are very important for us to see the real situation of the team,” said Myanmar assistant coach Atanos Georgiev.
Singapore morale on a high: Aide
SINGAPORE - SingaporeÂ’s battling performance in their 2006 World Cup qualifier against Asian Cup champions Japan in Saitama has boosted confidence in the Singapore camp according to Lions captain Aide Iskander.
Speaking ahead of the Tiger International Football Festival match against Myanmar on Saturday, the 29-year-old Home United stopper said:
“Our team’s morale is very good especially after the match against Japan. We are in the final phase of our preparations for the Tiger Cup and we are really looking forward to our next two matches against Myanmar and Hong Kong.”
Aide was forced to sit out that match through suspension but his teammates drew considerable praise for the way they played in the narrow 1-0 defeat against the reigning Asian champions.
Although pleased that his side avoided a repeat of the 7-0 mauling the Lions suffered at the hands of Oman in another World Cup qualifying match, Singapore coach Radojko Avramoivc identified a few problems that need to be ironed out ahead of the 2004 Tiger Cup.
“The result against Japan was good in a number of ways because if you look at their team list all the players with the exception of [Yoshito] Okubo were in the squad that won the Asian Cup in China.
“Japan are a very difficult side to play against as they constantly press. Most of the time we had to defend and hope to counter-attack. But we didn’t do this as we lacked the quality linking the midfield and attack.”
Wounded Lions worries Avramovic
SINGAPORE - Singapore coach Radojko Avramovic has admitted that he has injury concerns ahead of SaturdayÂ’s friendly with Myanmar in the Tiger International Football Festival at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Saturday.
The biggest injury headache for Avramovic is in attack with question marks over the fitness of Indra Sahdan Daud (ankle), Noh Alam Shah (knee), Agu Casmir (groin) and Masrezwan Masturi (knee).
In defence the Geylang United duo of Noh Rahman and Faizal Hamid are struggling with heel injuries while Ismail Yunos, who has recently been called up from the Under-18s, is carrying a groin injury.
Avramovic didnÂ’t elaborate on whether or not these players will feature in the game against Myanmar but was hopeful that they will be ready by the time Singapore kick-off their 2004 Tiger Cup campaign against Group A hosts Vietnam on December 7.
“There are still a few questions on the fitness of certain players but I hope we will have sorted these injuries out before the tournament starts.
“If we can sort out or injury problems then we have the potential to be a very strong team in the region. We have already played friendlies with Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand and we competed well. If we solve the injury problem then I think we can reach the semi-finals.”
Both Singapore and Myanmar are using the Tiger International Football Festival - a triangular tournament which also features Hong Kong - as part of their Tiger Cup preparations.
League SCORE
Match SINGAPORE vs MYANMAR
Match No. 0901
Sales Close ^ 27/11/04 7:15PM
1X2
Home 1.55 <1.48>
Draw 4.50 <4.40>
Away 3.82 <4.40>
1/2 GOAL
Home SINGAPORE (-1½) 2.00 <2.00>
Away MYANMAR (+1½) 1.67 <1.67>
TOTAL GOALS
No. of Goals
0 13.00 <12.00>
1 6.50 <6.40>
2 4.10 <4.00>
3 4.10 <4.00>
4 4.80 <4.80>
5 6.70 <6.70>
6 9.30 <10.00>
7 18.00 <20.00>
8 26.00 <31.00>
9+ 31.00 <33.00>
HALF / FULL TIME DOUBLE
Selection
H-H 1.98 <1.95>
H-D 12.50 <12.00>
H-A 23.00 <26.00>
D-H 5.20 <5.00>
D-D 10.00 <9.90>
D-A 9.60 <9.90>
A-H 20.00 <20.00>
A-D 14.00 <14.00>
A-A 8.80 <9.80>
