Shahril: Lions will roar
Singapore skipper confident of victory
SERI KEMBANGAN: The Lions aim to show who is the king by taming the Tigers in their own den.
They have done just that many times in the last few years and Singapore skipper Shahril Ishak wants a repeat when they take on the might of Malaysia and their fans at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil tonight.
Shahril said before their training session yesterday that he expects a hard time but strongly feels that victory is there for the taking.
“It’s a tough group,” said Shahril. “But we intend to win all our matches here.”
Besides defending champions Malaysia, the Lions have Indonesia and Laos for company in Group B.
Singapore warmed up for tonight’s clash with a 4-0 win over Pakistan on Monday.
But Shahril said while that victory was a confidence booster it means nothing against arch rivals Malaysia.
“The win against Pakistan was good for our morale but it was just a friendly,” said Shahril.
“Let’s not forget we also suffered a 1-0 defeat to the Philippines before that.
“So anything can happen against Malaysia.”
The last competitive match between the two rivals was during the 2014 World Cup preliminary qualifiers in July last year.
Singapore won 5-3 in the first leg at the Jalan Besar Stadium and drew 1-1 at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
However, in a subsequent friendly match, a second-string Singapore side lost 2-0 to Malaysia at the National Stadium this year.
But Shahril quickly noted that past records mean nothing in a tournament.
The influential midfielder, who has 97 caps, said it will be a different ball game because everyone would raise their game.
“We don’t really want to know about the problems the other teams may be facing.
“We just want to focus on our own game and win to make sure that we qualify for the semi-finals.”