by Daryll Nanayakara

IT WAS the end of the road for Singapore's young footballers at the Asian Youth Games, when they lost 0-3 in their final Group A match against 10-man China at the Jalan Besar Stadium yesterday.

Despite needing to score at least five goals to advance, Singapore had a nervous start with plenty of misplaced passes.

China found themselves down to 10 men in the 20th minute when Zhu Zhengyu was red-carded for a professional foul on Muhammad Adri, after the Singapore striker was through on goal.

But that only spurred China to greater heights, as skipper Yan Peng bagged a stunning hat-trick at the 25th, 37th and 45th minute.

Singapore managed only one attempt at goal, when Muhammad Hanafi sent a long-range curler past the left post in the 78th minute.

Despite the loss, Cubs coach David Sivalingam was pleased with his boys' performance, which followed their 1-4 defeat by Thailand on Monday.

'They gave 100 per cent today,' he said.

Team manager Jita Singh said: 'You could see they were stretching themselves to their limits and, for that, we're proud.

'They didn't chicken out when going for tackles despite being smaller in size.'

darylldj@sph.com.sg

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