Singapore coach Tsutomu Ogura did not mince his words as he told The Straits Times post-match at the F. Marinos Sports Park: “We need to improve everything – offence, defence, intensity, one-against-one, individual and group technique.
“Before this, they had a feeling how big the gap was between them and J1 teams, but this became real for them when they actually played.
“They knew what they had to do. I told the players we needed things like good defence and good organisation, and if we were missing any one of these areas, losing 10-0 or 20-0 is possible.”
A lopsided score did materialise in front of about 300 spectators that included the club's youth teams, fans and coaches, such as former Albirex Niigata coach Kazuaki Yoshinaga. After losing the J-League Cup semi-finals on aggregate a day earlier, the hosts started with mainly second stringers, seven of whom have made at least 17 appearances this season.
In contrast, Ogura fielded a young side with an average age of 23.5 years - they had four uncapped players and a combined total of only 104 caps.
Esta historia es de la edición October 15, 2024 de The Straits Times.
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