Singapore coach Gavin Lee was less than impressed by his team’s performance despite the four-times champions kicking off their ASEAN Hyundai Cup™ 2026 Group A campaign with a late 2-1 win over Cambodia in Phnom Penh.
Lee’s side needed a spectacular strike from substitute Ilhan Fandi deep into stoppage time to secure the three points against a Cambodia outfit that can consider themselves unfortunate to miss out on a point.
“The opening match of any competition is always a little tricky, and I think we saw that tonight,” said Lee. “To be honest, I do not have the appetite to enjoy the result too much, and I think the players are aware of that as well.
“It is always good to begin a competition with three points, but we now have to take the lessons from this match. We have another game on Monday, so it is important to direct our energy towards that.”
The Singaporeans host Timor-Leste in their next group phase match at Jalan Besar Stadium on Monday with Lee's insistence that his players must not repeat Friday’s performance after seeing Ouk Sovann cancel out Shawal Anuar’s 22nd minute opener for the visitors.
“We go into every game with certain agreements about how we want to play,” said Lee, whose side extended their winning record to five matches over Cambodia in the tournament’s history. “Unfortunately, we did not stick to those agreements today, particularly during the first half.
“At half-time, we showed everyone the mirror. I thought we started the second half much better defensively. There was far too much space for our midfielders to defend in the first half, and we suffered unnecessarily as a result. We improved slightly during the second half.
“Something we regularly say is that we have to own the discomfort. There were many uncomfortable moments today, but we allowed those moments to control us. That is a lesson we have to learn.”
Cambodia coach Koji Gyotoku was left to rue his side’s lack of energy after the Singaporeans hit the late winner that denied the hosts a share of the points.
“I initially expected us to go into half-time with the score at 0-0, but that did not happen because we conceded during the first half,” he said.
“The players who came on during the second half initially performed quite well, but they subsequently began to tire and were affected by fatigue.
“Some players had not even played a full 45 minutes, while others had only played 45 minutes, but they were already showing signs of fatigue.”
The ASEAN Hyundai Cup™ 2026 is the jewel in the crown of ASEAN football and is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
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