'They really gave their best' — Singapore U20 women's team narrowly defeated by Kyrgyz Republic
Regardless of the team's defeat, head coach Fazrul Nawaz was proud of the athlete's performance, especially given the punishing heat. Nawaz expressed: 'They really gave their best, even though the weather was quite testing for them. They really showed their tenacity, their desire. They really wanted it, and just one moment of lapse in concentration, and then we conceded out of nothing. It happens in football.'
The coach also admitted that creating chances to score is one of the things that the team needs to work on more in order to win. If the team is finally able to achieve the right strategy and keep moving forward, Nawaz stated that the momentum will eventually come.
'One thing I liked from today's performance was our courage to play out from the back. There were some moments we weren't as calm, but after we sorted that out, we were calm, and we were getting out of the opponents' press… That was one of the positives that I really like to take away from this game,' he added.
On social media, Midfielder Kyra Taylor also shared her sentiments about the team's game performance, stating that they played really well and have learned so much from their last game. However, despite being connected in the field, she shared that they got very unlucky not to score. View this post on Instagram
A post shared by FAS (@fasingapore) Highlights of the match
Captain Sarah Zu'rishqa initially dominated the midfield by winning the ball and passing it to the attackers. At one point, she also had the chance to score herself; however, her free kick in the 23rd minute went over the crossbar.
The winning goal happened in the 25th minute when Kyrgyz defender Kostiuk Karina kicked the ball a long way and got past Singapore's goalkeeper Chantale Lamasan.
Moreover, forward Mulan Ayliffe took advantage of a bad pass in the 35th minute and set up Cara Chang, and the shot went just wide of the goal. Mulan then skillfully got past a defender to score once again, but her shot went just over the bar.
During first-half stoppage time, Sarah made an attempt from a corner, but the defense of their opponent was strong, and their goalkeeper saved the ball. There were times when the referee stopped the game for the players to cool down due to the intense heat, but Singapore kept on pushing hard to clinch their first goal.
In the 55th minute, Cara had another great chance to score but missed once again. Singapore tried to keep up with its opponent's defense but failed to do so.
Nawaz believed that luck was not on their side, and he did not want players to feel disappointed because they managed to play the game that they wanted. He said, 'I don't want our players to feel disappointed. I want them to know that they can compete at this level, and after two tough games, they have shown that they can really compete at this level.'
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