Singapore coach Tsutomu Ogura described his team's 4-2 home defeat at the hands of defending Asean Mitsubishi Electric Cup champions Thailand as a "tale of two halves". Indeed, it was.
The Thais found themselves two goals in arrears shortly after the half-hour mark, but the War Elephants scripted a fantastic comeback to assure themselves of a place in the Asean championship semi-finals as Group A winners.
Thailand now have a perfect nine points from three matches after defeating Timor Leste and Malaysia in their earlier group games.
The War Elephants are scheduled to take on Cambodia at Bangkok's Rajamangala National Stadium in their last Group A fixture on Friday.
The Lions' hopes now rest on their final Group A clash with Malaysia at Bukit Jalil National Stadium, where they need to avoid defeat to reach the semi-finals of the biennial tournament for only the second time since winning the title in 2012. Cambodia and Malaysia are also still in contention for the other semi-final spot.
Cambodia, who edged Timor-Leste 2-1 in Phnom Penh on Tuesday night, are third with four points from three matches, level on points and in goal difference with fourth-placed Malaysia.
If teams are level on points, their head-to-head record is taken into account ahead of the goal difference.
The Lions showed their bite in the first half as a couple of stunning strikes by Shanwal Anuar on 10 minutes and Faris Ramli in the 34th minute gave the hosts a deserved two-goal lead.
But Patrik Gustavsson pulled a goal back for Thailand on the stroke of half-time to make the Thai coach Masatada Ishii's half-time team talk a touch easier, and then seven minutes into the second half, Suphanat Mueanta headed home the equaliser.
Thailand had to wait until deep into the second half stoppage time, however, to take the lead though, with Peeradol Chamratsamee netting in the 99th minute before a fourth goal was added after 104 minutes by Teerasak Poeiphimai.
After the match, Ishii sang praise of his men's fighting spirit.
"First of all, I would like to thank every player for putting up such a good fight," said Ishii. "We have qualified for the semi-finals already, but we will try to stay focused on every game aimed at producing good results.
"We may have to rotate players for the next game [with Cambodia], so we have to think about putting together a balanced line-up.
"At first, I was shocked and surprised that we had conceded two goals, but they were beautiful goals and were difficult to defend.
"During the break we watched clips of the first half, and we fixed our mistakes and looked at how we could limit the Singapore attack.
"What really mattered in the end was that the players fought till the final whistle."
Singapore coach Ogura called it a tale of two halves, saying: "The first half I think was the best 45 minutes [I have overseen]. Players were not scared, not afraid, built play from the back. The opponents were also a little bit confused."
But Ogura added that the team could not keep up their good start after the break and lamented the team's inability to hold on to possession.
The Japanese tactician said of the second period: "They [Thailand] were more aggressive. We were losing a little bit more and more space for the opponents. We must have a stronger mentality."
The Thais found themselves two goals in arrears shortly after the half-hour mark, but the War Elephants scripted a fantastic comeback to assure themselves of a place in the Asean championship semi-finals as Group A winners.
Thailand now have a perfect nine points from three matches after defeating Timor Leste and Malaysia in their earlier group games.
The War Elephants are scheduled to take on Cambodia at Bangkok's Rajamangala National Stadium in their last Group A fixture on Friday.
The Lions' hopes now rest on their final Group A clash with Malaysia at Bukit Jalil National Stadium, where they need to avoid defeat to reach the semi-finals of the biennial tournament for only the second time since winning the title in 2012. Cambodia and Malaysia are also still in contention for the other semi-final spot.
Cambodia, who edged Timor-Leste 2-1 in Phnom Penh on Tuesday night, are third with four points from three matches, level on points and in goal difference with fourth-placed Malaysia.
If teams are level on points, their head-to-head record is taken into account ahead of the goal difference.
The Lions showed their bite in the first half as a couple of stunning strikes by Shanwal Anuar on 10 minutes and Faris Ramli in the 34th minute gave the hosts a deserved two-goal lead.
But Patrik Gustavsson pulled a goal back for Thailand on the stroke of half-time to make the Thai coach Masatada Ishii's half-time team talk a touch easier, and then seven minutes into the second half, Suphanat Mueanta headed home the equaliser.
Thailand had to wait until deep into the second half stoppage time, however, to take the lead though, with Peeradol Chamratsamee netting in the 99th minute before a fourth goal was added after 104 minutes by Teerasak Poeiphimai.
After the match, Ishii sang praise of his men's fighting spirit.
"First of all, I would like to thank every player for putting up such a good fight," said Ishii. "We have qualified for the semi-finals already, but we will try to stay focused on every game aimed at producing good results.
"We may have to rotate players for the next game [with Cambodia], so we have to think about putting together a balanced line-up.
"At first, I was shocked and surprised that we had conceded two goals, but they were beautiful goals and were difficult to defend.
"During the break we watched clips of the first half, and we fixed our mistakes and looked at how we could limit the Singapore attack.
"What really mattered in the end was that the players fought till the final whistle."
Singapore coach Ogura called it a tale of two halves, saying: "The first half I think was the best 45 minutes [I have overseen]. Players were not scared, not afraid, built play from the back. The opponents were also a little bit confused."
But Ogura added that the team could not keep up their good start after the break and lamented the team's inability to hold on to possession.
The Japanese tactician said of the second period: "They [Thailand] were more aggressive. We were losing a little bit more and more space for the opponents. We must have a stronger mentality."
