GOING by last night's soccer matches at the Jalan Beasr Stadium, Singapore should score a win tomorrow against Thailand in the Asian Youth Games.
Singapore played above themselves despite the 2-1 loss to Iran, while Thailand suffered a 7-0 demolition by China.
The Cubs showed enough spirit and drive for a intangible triumph yesteday, winning over the 2,500 strong crowd.
While the Singapore forwards showed some neat passing and build-up play, in the match that followed the Thais were in such a charitable mood.
And this is where should Singapore exploit.
With striker Hanafi Akbar possibly set to start after his goalscoring heroics after he came off the bench against Iran, he could exploit a porous Thailand defence that has now conceded 11 goals in just three games.
When defending corners, Singapore looked solid at the back with captain Jeffrey Adam Lightfoot particularly impressive.
Thailand, on the other hand, were completely bullied by the physical Chinese forwards.
The size and strength of captain Yan Peng proved too much for the smaller and weaker Thai defenders, and it was no surprise that he bagged five goals.
But the cautious among the Singapore fans beleive that too much should not be read into the Thai drubbing from China.
For the Thais had a respectable 3-2 loss to powerful North Korea in their first match.
And in their only other game against regional opponents so far, the Thais triumphed 2-1 over Malaysia.
They will be boosted by the news that captain and influential midfielder Charoenruen has been ruled fit to play against Singapore, after being taken off injured early in the match against China.
Still, while not a foregone conclusion, Singapore are the favourites against the Thais at Jalan Besar Stadium tomorrow at 4pm.
The other Group A match between China and Iran will take place simultaneously at Temasek Polytechnic.
