AFC Champions League Two
Song Ui-Young gives Lions one moment to roar as Paraguay hand Singapore lesson in levels
Singapore will have valuable lessons to take from Friday's 4-1 loss to FIFA World Cup opposition in the form of Paraguay.
Gabriel Tan ·
SINGAPORE -- For a moment in time, at the half-hour mark in Friday's international friendly against Paraguay at National Stadium, Singapore and their faithful could dare to dream.
Against prominent South American opposition who reached the round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup just earlier this year, the Lions found themselves coming from behind to equalise in the 30th minute -- with Song Ui-Young's stooping header cancelling out Gustavo Caballero's 7th-minute opener for the visitors.
It sparked off a spell where Singapore looked arguably the more dangerous of the two teams as they pushed forward with growing vigour, and might even have taken the lead had they shown greater conviction in the penalty area.
But after absorbing a fair bit of pressure, Paraguay showed just why they are a team who -- at this year's World Cup -- managed to qualify out of a group that also included United States, Australia and Türkiye, eliminated heavyweights Germany on penalties in the round of 32, before being eliminated only by a narrow 1-0 defeat at the hands of another powerhouse in France.
Right on the stroke of halftime, against the run of play, they would reclaim the lead to take in to the break and, from there, they were never really troubled again as they netted twice more in the second 45 to claim a comfortable 4-1 win.
More to follow...