Singapore coach Radojko Avramovic praised his sideÂ’s resolute character after they beat Thailand 2-1 in the first leg of the Asean Championship final at the National Stadium on Wednesday.
The match itself was hardly a classic in the mould of that epic second leg semi-final against Malaysia four nights ago but it will perhaps be most remembered for a mass walkout by the Thai team in a bizarre protest to referee C RavichandranÂ’s awarding of a late penalty to the home side.
“We fully deserved to win tonight,” Avramovic said in the post-match press conference. “The first goal (by Noh Alam Shah) was a great goal and I thought the second goal (Mustafic Fahrudin’s penalty) was punishment for Thailand playing the way they did.
“They (Thailand) were using their hands to foul our players the whole night.”
The Serbian did however admit that some profligate finishing near the end, especially those two glaring misses by substitutes Khairul Amri and Shahril Ishak, meant that the tie was far from finished.
“I think if you look at the match, we were better. But if those chances by Amri and Shahril had gone in, it would have a lot better for us going to Bangkok.”
When asked about the walkout by the Thais in the 83rd minute as a reaction to Niweat SiriwongÂ’s foul on Noh Alam Shah in the box, Avramovic did not mince his words.
“It was just a joke,” he said. “I told my players to keep warm because I knew they (Thailand) would come back (onto the pitch).
“That (reaction) is just not right. I didn’t know how long the referee was going to wait before he did anything because it looked like he was waiting for a long time.
“If teams walk out because they protested against the referee then I think a lot of games would end a lot earlier!”
And while most of the blame for the farcical scenes will perhaps fall on the shoulders of referee Ravichandran, the referee found an unlikely ally in Avramovic.
“Nobody can be perfect,” he said. “Everyone makes mistakes. A few of his (Ravichandran’s) calls were questionable but that doesn’t mean we should walk out,” he said, still smarting over his counterpart Chanvit Phalajivin’s gesturing his players to leave the pitch for the touchline in protest.
When the questions moved on towards the second leg on Sunday, the Lions coach said that the win tonight proved that his players were more than a match for the most successful side in the competition.
To worry about the expected boisterous reception from the Bangkok crowd is not an option, Avramovic warned.
“We did very well tonight, and we must do the same in Bangkok,” he said. “Everyone must concentrate on what happens on the pitch and not what happens in the terraces.”