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VIENTAINE: After the hard-fought win over Myanmar on Monday, goalkeeper Hyrulnizam Juma'at was a bit of a star.
Five Laotian girls queued up to pose for pictures with the Singapore under-23 'keeper.
He made his first appearance in the 25th SEA Games on Monday, taking the place of the injured Jasper Chan, and put in a sturdy performance between the sticks as Singapore defeated the 2007 silver medallists Myanmar 2-1 to boost their semi-final hopes.
There were many heroes wearing the blue of Singapore out on the Chao Anouvong Stadium pitch on Monday.
There was central defender Safuwan Baharudin (14th minute) and midfield ace Hariss Harun (29th), who both found the net with headers, off corners sweetly delivered by the cultured left foot of Shaiful Esah.
From defenders Afiq Yunos and Safuwan to midfielders Isa Halim and Hariss, and goalkeeper Hyrulnizam, Singapore would have been hard pressed to pick their best player on the day.
"I'm glad that we won, but I'm most pleased about the way the boys rallied together as a team. This game brought out the best in the boys as far as fighting spirit and determination is concerned," said a beaming head coach, Terry Pathmanathan.
"The boys did more on the pitch than they usually do."
Now, along with the challenge of replacing the suspended Safuwan, who picked up his second yellow card of the tournament on Monday, Pathmanathan has the task of keeping the youngsters' feet firmly on the ground.
They need only a point against the hosts on Thursday to book their place in the last four, and the former Singapore star said: "The biggest task for me now is to make sure that the boys don't get complacent. I don't want them to be floating in the air. Laos will be a very difficult opponent."
When Singapore scored the two goals against Indonesia on Saturday - the match eventually finished 2-2 - the Singapore bench cleared with players piling on top of each other in unadulterated delight.
Monday though, the celebrations were a little more muted - raised hands and high-fives was as far as it went - all acutely aware that the job had yet to be completed.
Said captain Isa Halim: "The boys must learn that in international football, a two-goal lead is nothing. "We needed to concentrate and focus, and that was what we did out on the pitch."
Defender Safuwan, who has had a great tournament so far, knows there is still much to do. "We won, but I'm still very nervous ... because we still haven't qualified yet," said the Young Lions defender.
But skipper Isa is confident that his team can only get better. "We deserve this victory, we made mistakes in the Indonesia game, but we showed that we are learning from those mistakes," said the Home United midfielder.
The Singapore team are indeed learning, and they are also determined not to get carried away.
Said Hariss: "We did well and I hope this is redemption for throwing away the two-goal lead the way we did in the Indonesia game. Now, the task is to keep playing like this."
- TODAY
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