Football: Singapore held by 10-man India in third round of Asian Cup qualifiers
The Lions now have five points from three matches.
Singapore’s Song Ui-young (left) in action against India’s Louis Nickson Macarton (right) during an AFC Asian Cup qualifier against India at the National Stadium on Oct 9, 2025. (Photo: CNA/Wallace Woon)
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SINGAPORE: The Lions' hopes of making history in the Asian Cup took a dent on Thursday (Oct 9) after a 1-1 draw with 10-man India at the National Stadium.
A late equaliser from the away side's Rahim Ali meant Singapore are now second in Group C, which also features Hong Kong and Bangladesh.
In the later match, Hong Kong beat Bangladesh 4-3. With three games played each, Hong Kong tops the group with seven points, followed by Singapore with five, India with two and Bangladesh with one.
Singapore’s only appearance at the tournament was back in 1984, with an automatic qualification as the host nation. The team have yet to earn a place in the Asian Cup on merit.
India are the top-ranked side in the group at 134th, while Hong Kong are 146th, Singapore are 158th and Bangladesh sit in 184th.
"We didn't take further advantage of the extra man that we had for a good 45 minutes and unfortunately at the end, we allowed one action to determine the outcome and gloss over all the positive stuff that we did today," said interim head coach Gavin Lee post-match.
"I thought there were very good moments on many phases but again, we didn't make it count at the end."
It was Singapore who dominated much of the first 45 as they looked to find Glenn Kweh and Shawal Anuar with the diagonal passes.
However, Lee’s men found it difficult to convert the possession to chances, and it was the away side with the first chance.
An early Liston Colacco freekick found Macarton Nickson but his header dropped wide as Singapore goalkeeper Izwan Mahmud looked on.
Singapore’s main threat came in the form of Lion City Sailors attacker Shawal. An incisive ball from Kyoga Nakamura almost found him, if not for a timely intervention by Muhammed Uvais.
Just before half-time, the home side got their reward as a brilliant Hariss Harun pass found Shawal, who ghosted into the box, and Ikhsan tapped home.
There was a further boost for Singapore early in the second half as India were reduced to 10 men.
Sandesh Jhingan was adjudged to have blocked the run of Ikhsan illegally, and received his second caution of the match.
The red card, however, seemed to jolt India into action as they seized on a number of errors by the Lions in the minutes that followed.
First, a dropped catch by Izwan was hacked clear, before a misplaced pass by Ryhan Stewart almost put Singapore in danger.
The Lions could and should have gone two goals ahead minutes later. Substitute Ilhan Fandi found himself in space and with just the goalkeeper to beat, but his right-footed shot was pushed away by Gurpreet Singh.
And they were made to pay late on as an underhit pass by Jordan Emawive put Izwan in trouble and his clearance was gobbled up by Rahim Ali, whose tap-in stunned the crowd into silence.
“We made decisions in the second half because India became more front foot with their pressing, they were putting us a little bit under more pressure, and we wanted to have a little more control in the middle," said Lee.
“And I thought we got that with the changes, but at the same time, still gave us the extra man in the midfield and to go forward and create chances, which we did. But again, as with all reflection, we will take time tonight, watch the video back, reanalyse what we did.”
Lee is continuing to helm the Lions as there has been no breakthrough in the search for a permanent head coach, following the departure of Tsutomu Ogura in June.
Singapore started their Asian Cup qualifying campaign with a 0-0 home result against Hong Kong in March, before beating Bangladesh away 2-1 in June.
Singapore will next face India next Tuesday at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa.
"The boys are hurting for sure, we just spoke about it," said Lee. "In a way, we will go to Goa with extra fuel in our tank. And I think from tonight we know what we are capable of, and the thing is - can we go out there and make sure we do it for 95 minutes this time."
He stressed that "the window is not over" for the Lions.
"There are another important three points to play and ultimately, this is a fantastic test of us in terms of our character and us as a team. How strong are we?" said Lee.
"If we think that we are a team that's better than tonight's result, then our job is to go out there and prove it in Goa in more difficult conditions, to rise up to the challenge, and show everybody who we are."
