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SINGAPORE – Singapore's National Under-22 Team ended its Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-23 Championship qualifying campaign after beating Mongolia 3-1 on Tuesday (March 26th) but their joy was eased by the elimination of an insufficient number of points.
Fandi Ahmad's men finished second in Group G with five points in three games, including a 1-1 draw against Hong Kong and North Korea, the group's winner.
The 11 group winners and the top four finalists will join host Thailand in the 2020 final in January.
Even before the last day of games played Tuesday, Oman, Bahrain, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Australia, Myanmar, Malaysia and Vietnam all occupy the second place of their respective group with six points.
Despite the departure, Fandi was satisfied with the manner in which his accusations behaved during the campaign. He said: "Everything went very well, although we have difficulties, the team work is there, the coaching staff is very united, the camaraderie is very good.
"We did not qualify, but we gave everything, the boys sacrificed a lot and finishing second in the group, without defeat, is something that has never happened in this age group."
In the previous three editions of the AFC UC-23 Championship in 2013, 2016, and 2018, Singapore had never reached the final and had suffered at least one defeat in each qualifying campaign and no one was able to win. had never pbaded third place in his group.
The Young Lions were stunned after just three minutes at the MFF Football Center in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on Tuesday when Batbayar Khash-Erdene (Mongolia) led the lead in front of goalkeeper Zharfan Rohaizad.
The Republic equalized in the 33rd minute on striker Amiruldin Asraf from a Hami Syahin center on the left.
Two minutes before half-time, center-back Irfan Fandi came to the far post to take a free-kick from left-back Syahrul Sazali and head to the opposing goalkeeper Sanchir Anand. And in the 71st minute, forward Ikhsan Fandi threw the ball to allow Hami to clear his way and score the third goal.
Fandi, 56, said: "We are just happy that the boys came back with good fighting spirit and good discipline, I know that these Mongolian players are fighters, they fought very hard and they are good. players and a team that works hard. "
The Under-22 Games have another important mission this year at the November SEA Games and Fandi hopes that it will be able to turn them into a unit capable of delivering a historic gold medal.
"It's a good team we have to keep together, the coaching staff is very happy with the players' performance."
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