++ [ originally posted by ZhiXin ] ++
Not really though.
Myanmar will be more determined against us, so I wouldn't be too optimistic in the 1st place. We should keep up our pace and defeat Myanmar or draw in the 2nd leg as well or else we will be playing against Malaysia/Indonesia.
I hope myanmar didn't injured many of your player...
They do tackle many of ur players badly and yet the ref didnt give anything.
Furious Avramovic blasts officiating
His side may have ultimately won the battle against Myanmar on Wednesday evening but Singapore coach Radojko Avramovic was more concerned with the officiating of referee Rungklay Mongkol, launching a furious tirade against the Thai match official after the game.
A seething Avramovic felt that the referee showed far too much leniency for the roughhouse tactics of the physical Myanmar side in the Tiger Cup semi-final first leg encounter and labeled his performance as a ‘disaster’.
“A tournament like the Tiger Cup shouldn’t have this kind of referee. He should be managing the game but what he did today was against football. He was a disaster for us,” said the Serbo-Montenegrin in the press conference following Singapore’s 4-3 victory at the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium.
“He allowed far too much and did not take action for some of their tackles. I only hope now that we have enough (fit) players to play in the second leg (on Sunday).”
The Singapore coach was particularly incensed with the referee’s decision not to blow his whistle for an apparent foul on right back Daniel Bennett in injury time. Myanmar were allowed to play on and skipper Soe Myat Min scored his second goal of the match to make the score 4-3 ahead of the return encounter at the National Stadium in Singapore.
“On their third goal, there was a clear foul on our player right in front of the referee but he allowed play to go on. That goal could be so crucial now because it means we have only a one-goal advantage now for the second leg,” said Avramovic.
“I tell my players to play according to the rules of football but the referee tonight seemed to be playing according to his own rules.
“We were expecting a physical match and we told our players not to react to the challenges and just take things as they come. But how far can the referee expect them to take it?”
Avramovic’s dim view of the officiating was echoed by his team captain Aide Iskandar.
“We knew what to expect of them (Myanmar) because they go in for the man and the ball. We can only hope that the referee would be more firm and take charge of the game,” said the Singapore centre back.
“We were playing against a tough Myanmar team today and were not helped by the bad referee. However, we showed that we can fight hard as a team. We want to win and go to the final, so we just keep going,” he added.