Singapore lose 3-2 to Chinese Taipei in football friendly

SINGAPORE: Tsutomu Ogura will have his work cut out for him ahead of next month's Mitsubishi Electric Cup if the Lions' defeat by Chinese Taipei on Monday (Nov 18) was anything to go by.

In an international friendly at the National Stadium, goals from Christopher Tiao and Miguel Sandberg gave the away side the lead before Singapore pulled one back through Irfan Najeeb.

But an Ange Kouame header would seal the deal for Gary White's men, despite a late strike from Singapore substitute Shawal Anuar to narrow the scoreline to 3-2.

Chinese Taipei are ranked 168th in the FIFA world rankings, six spots below the Lions. Singapore last faced Chinese Taipei in a friendly last year, winning 3-1.

This was the team's final warm-up match ahead of their Mitsubishi Electric Cup campaign, which will begin on Dec 11 against Cambodia. On Thursday (Nov 14), Singapore beat Myanmar 3-2 in another friendly.

Ogura, a former assistant coach of the Japanese national football team, was announced as the new Singapore head coach in February.

The 58-year-old led the Lions to a 2-2 home draw against China in his first match in charge, with Singapore mounting a comeback from two goals down.

In the subsequent World Cup Asian qualifying matches, Singapore lost 1-4 to China, 7-0 to South Korea and 3-1 to Thailand.

The Lions ended their group-stage campaign with a solitary point - after no wins, a draw and five losses.

As part of the team's preparations for the Mitsubishi Electric Cup, the Lions played two home training matches in September. The games against BG Tampines Rovers and Malaysia’s Johor Darul Ta’zim were played behind closed doors.

In a training camp in Japan last month, Singapore faced three J1 League sides. They lost 4-0 to FC Tokyo before beating