EASY bait.

That could be what Jordan see the Lions as.

This despite the Lions beating them 2-1 on Wednesday night at the National Stadium, before returning to Jordan on 3 Mar next year for their return fixture.

With that being Singapore's last Asian Cup qualifying match in their Group E, it could also well determine if the Lions - now in second-place behind Iran - do eventually finish second behind them to qualify for the first time, for the Asian Cup, in 2011.

It is a 'high-risk' match, to say the least, with pride and vital qualifying points at stake.

So why must the Lions avoid dangling themselves at the end of the fishing line?

After Wednesday's post-match dressing room scuffle at the National Stadium, both sides are now pointing fingers at each other, after fists were initially raised.

The words 'Come to Jordan, you die', which Lions team manager Eugene Loo claimed was said loudly to the entire Singapore team in the dressing room tunnel by Jordan's assistant coach Jamal Abu Abed, are enough to incite the most laid-back of players.

While it may have raised the blood pressure of more than a few of the Lions, they would do well to actually be as cool as ice when they do visit Jordan.

In short, try to be zen about it, Lions.

If the Jordanians slap you on the cheek, smile and let the referee react.

Hopefully, the referee will react.

Otherwise, curse silently and wait for the next moment to let the Jordanians fall into their own trap.

That goes for players like Mohd Noh Alam Shah.

If the Jordanians kick you, frustrate them further by avoiding them.

That goes for players like nippy Shahril Ishak, since Jordan's coach Eduardo Vingada did praise him as 'the Singapore player who gave us many problems on the left wing in the first half'.

And of course, if the Jordan fans shout abuse from the stands, then swallow anything they can dish out.

This goes especially for players like Agu Casmir, who famously drank from water bottles thrown at him by screaming Myanmar fans demanding his blood in a Tiger Cup semi-final in December 2004.

In fact, most of the Lions will remember being part of that Tiger Cup which they eventually won, and that first leg against Myanmar away on neutral ground in Malaysia.

The Lions won that game 4-3.

But what stuck in the mind of this journalist then, was the way the Lions kept their cool and battled smartly - letting their heads rule in creating, then scoring well-taken goals.

This, against a Myanmar team determined to play dirty football, worse than anything seen on Wednesday.

The Myanmar team tackled hard, raised their feet high, and used the odd elbow in the chest, face or rib.

Despite all this abuse - not helped by a referee blind to it all - the Lions weren't rash as they managed to stay away from retaliating and getting sent off.

Casmir, who played on Wednesday, and actually scored for the first time against tougher international opposition - rather than just regional teams as he promised to do so in The New Paper's match preview - also held play up effectively, assisted, and played behind Alam Shah to distract Jordan's defensive midfielders.

New Agu Casmir

This wasn't just the old Casmir reacting positively to criticism.

This is the new unselfish striker Casmir. Let's hope he builds on it this year.

Daniel Bennett - replacing Precious Emuejeraye in central defence - had Jordan coach Vingada sighing all throughout, denying his strikers time and again.

The ultimate compliment?

Vingada told The New Paper yesterday at the airport: 'There was one moment in the match when my Odai Yousef Ismail went on a 30-metre run towards the penalty box and Bennett followed him all the way, and stopped him from taking a proper shot inside the box.'

New face Shaiful Esah - slotting in at left-back to fill in for Bennett - showed the most important ingredient a newbie can have against a tricky and skilful player like Odai.

He was beaten a few times by Odai, but he never dropped his head or lost his composure.

And in a nod to Lions' coach Raddy Avramovic's correct decision to drop Emuejeraye - long questioned by The New Paper if he can cut it at this higher level - Vingada told us: 'I also didn't want your national team to drop that Precious from the starting line-up.

'I wish he had been playing instead.

'Because he's slow and we could have capitalised with our faster players.'

So Lions, don't fall too easily as Wednesday's fracas can easily be used by Jordan as bait, even that return 'grudge' match is slightly more than a year away.

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