Singapore U-16 girls given footballing lesson in first match of inaugural Lion City Cup girls’ tournament

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Singapore's Nur Ain Salleh trying to dribble past South Korea's Kang Gyu-eun during the national Under-16 girls’ 9-0 loss in their Lion City Cup opener at the Jalan Besar Stadiun on July 8.

SINGAPORE – Singapore’s Under-16 girls’ team were handed a valuable lesson on the football pitch during their debut in the Lion City Cup (LCC) on July 8.

Their maiden appearance turned out to be a harrowing experience as the girls were outclassed 9-0 by South Korea at the Jalan Besar Stadium, with five goals coming in the first half.

The match – which was not live-streamed locally – saw the South Koreans dominate from start to finish and exposed the gulf in standards between the hosts and the visitors, who were third in the 2024 U-17 Women’s Asian Cup and qualified for the 2024 U-17 Women’s World Cup.

For the first time since its inception in 1977, the LCC features a girls’ tournament and Singapore’s U-16 girls’ coach Yeong Sheau Shyan was satisfied despite the lopsided result, highlighting the benefits of letting her team “feel the difference between us and them”.

Yeong, who is also the Lion City Sailors’ head of women’s football, said: “We knew that South Korea are a top team... So for us to be able to play them and feel the difference between us and them is a good wake-up call for all the girls who maybe don’t get enough chances (to play against opponents like South Korea).

“To play them now in our first match will give us a very good idea of how hard we have to work.”

While South Korea were physically superior, confident in their passing and had the individual ability to take on their opponents in one-to-one battles across the pitch, the Singaporeans were unable to establish any kind of traction in the game and were often looking to clear the ball into space rather than to build an attack.

Only a string of saves from goalkeeper Chantale Lamasan, a Singapore Sports School student, kept the scoreline down.

Yeong was cheered by the spirit of the girls at full-time.

“When we came back to the dressing room, (the feeling) was not negative. They are still ready to go. They are thinking of good things to come in the next match. And that’s something that is heartening to see,” said Yeong.

South Korea scored the opener in the 11th minute when midfielder Jeon Ha-eun’s near-post shot trickled in, despite the best efforts of Chantale. In the 18th minute, the Koreans added a second with a shot from outside the box from Ko Jie-un. In the 26th minute, forward Cho An scored the first of her three goals of the night when she was released through on goal and fired into the bottom of the net.

Just four minutes later, South Korea’s Park Na-young made it four. Cho scored her second in the 38th minute before completing her hat-trick three minutes into the second half.

Substitute Kim Hee-jin scored a brace, with strikes in the 68th and 74th minute, before another substitute Son Seoh-yeon added the ninth in stoppage time.

Coach Kim Eun-jung, who has been involved in South Korean women’s football since 2009, having served as a coach for the U-17, U-20 and senior women’s national teams, said the scoreline was not unexpected and praised her team for their performance and commended Singapore’s mentality.

Kim said: “It was a big win, but the Singapore players kept going till the end.

“That kind of mentality is a positive step for women’s football in Singapore.”

Meanwhile, Yeong is hopeful of a better showing in their remaining two matches – against Hong Kong on July 10 and Cambodia two days later.

She said: “The mistakes that we made today, we will have to correct it and we want to be able to show a bit more of our style in the next two matches.”

In the day’s earlier kick-off, Hong Kong secured a 4-0 victory over Cambodia. The team who are top after the single round-robin stage will be crowned champions.

The Republic’s U-16 boys will kick off their campaign on July 9 against the Philippines, before facing off against Cambodia (July 11) and Hong Kong (July 13).

All matches are played at the Jalan Besar Stadium with Singapore’s games kicking off at 8pm.

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