LIONS FLUNK FINAL TEST

Experimental side fall 3-2 to Taiwanese in last warmup game before AFF C'ship

- Deepanraj Ganesan

With just over three weeks to go before their Asean Football Federation (AFF) Championship opener, the Lions flunked their final rehearsal at the National Stadium as they lost 3-2 to Chinese Taipei on Nov 18.

The defeat by the world No. 168 side, who are six places behind Singapore, left the home faithful among the 6,764 fans visibly deflated. It was a far cry from the euphoria that had greeted the Lions when they staged a late comeback to beat Myanmar 3-2 at the same venue just four days earlier.

This time, the hosts failed to sparkle at both ends, struggling to create much in attack from open play while displaying lackadaisical defending which the visitors took advantage of.

In search of a perfect tune-up to the biennial championship, the Lions ended up cooling hopes of making it a tournament to remember.

Singapore coach Tsutomu Ogura shuffled his pack after the win over Myanmar - his first international victory in charge - as he made nine changes to the starting XI and deployed an experimental 3-4-2-1 setup instead of the previous 4-2-3-1.

The Japanese said: "We tried new combinations, players today and (after both games) we have used 25 players and tried new formations.