Historic Asian Cup qualification 'just the beginning', Lions stress need to stay level-headed, work hard

HONG KONG: Hours after their historic Asian Cup qualification in Hong Kong, sleep did not come easily for some of the Lions.

After all, they were still running on adrenaline after a milestone result and subsequent celebrations.

"It's a dream come true," defender Lionel Tan told CNA on Wednesday (Nov 19). "Of course, we were tired (but) emotions were everywhere. At the same time, you must remember that we never did this before."

At Kai Tak Stadium on Tuesday, they made national sporting history after beating Hong Kong 2-1 to qualify for the Asian Cup.

Two goals in four minutes from Shawal Anuar and Ilhan Fandi capped a remarkable turnaround after Matt Orr’s first-half goal. The win meant that Singapore booked their spot at the 2027 tournament in Saudi Arabia.

"When you make moments like these together, as a team it just strengthens the bond and the trust (with) each other and belief that we can achieve things together as a team when we work hard and we stick together," striker Ikhsan Fandi added.

This marks the first time the Lions have qualified for the Asian Cup on merit. Singapore's only appearance came in 1984, when they took part automatically as hosts.

Players CNA spoke to stressed the importance of hard work and togetherness in the days ahead.

"Let's not get carried away because there's still things we need to work on," said Tan. "This is obviously an achievement but what's next is that we should be preparing, we should ready for the Asian Cup ... What's next is to keep level-headed and go back to train hard and work hard again."

Ikhsan added that it is important that players keep improving.

"Their (Asian heavyweights) level is of course is three, four steps above us. We just need to continue working hard ... fighting