Young Lions bank on local support

Young Lions bank on local support

Singapore will hope local support can give them the edge against Haiti at Jalan Besar Stadium on Sunday night.

Although Haiti are surprise semi-finalists, the hosts' top-scorer with three goals in two matches, Muhaimin Suhaimi (SIN), was cautious ahead of the match. "We are confident but we can't say anything too much yet," he said.

By contrast, his teammate Brandon Koh (SIN) believes a final berth on Wednesday against either Bolivia or Montenegro is well within the grasp of the hosts. "I'm 90% sure we will go to the final," he said.

Haiti's coach, Pierre Sonche (HAI), buoyed by his team's 2-1 win over Vanuatu after they came from behind, is delighted to be in the last four but said Singapore were the team he least preferred to play.

"We didn't want to meet Singapore in the semifinal because Singapore has been like home for us," Sonche said, citing the support Haiti have received from the Jalan Besar Stadium crowd.

The teams will already know who awaits them in the final following the first semi-final between unbeaten Bolivia, who have scored 11 goals in their two matches so far, and a Montenegro side eager to bounce back from their recent 3-2 defeat by Singapore.

Montenegro's captain, Nebojsa Kosovic, said his team would need to perform better to progress to the final.

"We will have to improve," he said. "We really respect Bolivia because they are a good team, but we are still confident that we can make the final".

The Bolivia defender Macallister Amutary (BOL) was relieved to avoid a semifinal against the host nation.

"I'd rather play Montenegro," Amutary said. "I think Singapore are a really good team and its never easy to play against the home team."

Matches are 80 minutes in duration and if the scores are tied will be decided by penalty kicks with no period of extra time.


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