AFF Suzuki Cup preview 2

The 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup officially starts today. Singapore will play their first game of the tournament tomorrow when they take on Philippines. The result of this match looks quite predictable but as the saying goes "The ball is round."

The Lions should stick to 4-4-2 with a flat midfield. Here is the probable line-up for tomorrow's match.

Hassan Sunny; Baihakki Khaizan, Daniel Bennet, Rosman Sulaiman, Juma'at Jantan; Mustafic Fahrudin, Shahdan Sulaiman, Ridhuan Muhammad, Sharil Ishak; Aleksandar Duric, Noh Alam Shah.

Singapore coach Radojko Avramovic is expected to pair the 40 year-old Duric and fiery Noh Alam Shah in attack. Although Duric does not match the styles of the other attacking players like Alam Shah, Sharil and Ridhuan, he is still expected to start.

That is the weakness of Raddy as a coach. He puts personal records ahead of team tactics. So what if Duric has scored more than 300 S League goals?

He looks better off as a substitute 2/3 into the game where he can launch aerial assaults on weary defenders. Instead, the Lions can opt for 4-2-3-1 with Sharil as the central attacking midfielder supporting Alam Shah.

Spain, Liverpool and Real Madrid all use this formation to deadly effects. 4-4-2 looks a bit too direct for Singapore. The point is just to offload long balls for the forwards to chase.

Notable absentees from the squad this time include Hariss Harun (what a pity), John Wilkinson (yeah, cos he sucks) and Shi Jiayi (personal reasons).

I am not sure what happened to Shaiful Esah, the one and only left-footed player in the national team. His name was also missing in the list. If Shaiful was called up, he could be deployed on the left wing and that would be exciting to watch.

With three central midfielders missing, Shahdan Sulaiman will certainly get to start in tomorrow's game. Although still quite an unknown name among fans, I can assure you that he has the potential to make it big.

The deep-lying playmaker can form a formidable partnership in central midfield with defensive linchpin Mustafic Fahrudin and the creative Sharil.

Another player whose name is also less heard of also stand a chance of starting the match against Philippines. He is Rosman Sulaiman slotted at right-back at the expense of the experienced Noh Rahman.

I think this is the position where Raddy will have the biggest headache as both players cancel out each other in terms of technique.

I foresee Hassan Sunny to beat Lionel Lewis for the goalkeeping role. Both are good players but at the moment, Hassan looks more reliable and steady. Expect Izwan Mahbud, the third-choice goalie, to find his trip to Vietnam more of a holiday than work.

Final score: Singapore 4:0 Philippines. Noh Alam Shah at the double, Sharil Ishak netting one and the Filipinos scoring an own goal.