At last, Raddy Avramovic has personally and publicly
confirmed that he will step down as Singapore's coach after the AFF Suzuki Cup.
This means that the Lions will bid goodbye to him after the second leg of
tomorrow's Suzuki Cup final.
Singapore go into the game with a two-goal cushion after
crushing Thailand 3:1 in the first leg on Wednesday. Avramovic is arguably the
most successful coach of the national team having won two AFF titles and
bringing Singapore into the third round of the World Cup qualifiers.
With one hand on this year's trophy, the Serb is expected to
make history by winning the competition thrice. Singapore will still continue
to attack and try to score in tomorrow's match but expect the support of the
home crowd to give the Thais the upper hand.
Both teams look set to cancel out each other in midfield.
So, it will be up to both sides' flair players to influence the result of the
game. Khairul Amri, who scored with a cool finish Ronaldo will be proud of in
the first leg, will be Singapore's trump card again.
Amri netted the equalizer in the second leg of the 2007
final (yeah, against Thailand) to hand Singapore a 3:2 aggregate win. He was
also the only player to record a goal in both legs of the semi-final against Philippines
in this campaign. Plus, he is a threat at set-pieces as proven in the
group-stage game with Laos where he scored a stunning free-kick.
As for the Thais, Teerasil Dangda will still be their star
player and the man to mark. Teerasil leads the goalscoring list with five
goals, capable of creating chances (as proven in the first leg) and possess
great speed to test defenders. But since it's the final, it is likely that he
will be heavily marked.
I predict Thailand to dominate the entire game. Goalkeeper
Izwan Mahbud will experience one of the most nerve-wrecking nights in his
international career while Aleksandar Duric will not score one last goal before
retiring from the national team.
Thailand will certainly create several chances but convert
none of them. Singapore, for most of the game, will rely on Mustafic Fahrudin
to excel as the midfield anchor to try and keep the game under control. A 0:0
draw looks like the most probable result.
And Avramovic will get bombarded by his players after the
match and have champagne sprayed on him. Possible?
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