Defeating Thailand 3-1, Singapore touched the championship title

With goals from Mustafic Faihrudin, Khairul Amri and Khaizan, the Singapore team has one hand on the AFF Suzuki Cup 2012 championship, after having a 3-1 victory over Thailand in the first leg of the final at home ground Jalan Besar.

In this match, Khairul Amri - Singapore's hero nearly 6 years ago, was once again the scorer and that could be a good omen to help Singapore set a record of becoming the first team to win the AFF Cup (formerly Tiger Cup) 4 times.

Meanwhile, Thailand is facing a mountain of difficulties before the second leg at home this weekend.

In the match at Jalan Besar Stadium, right after the referee's whistle, Singapore entered the game very confidently and put pressure on Thailand's field.

As a result, the home team took the lead early in the 9th minute after being awarded a penalty when Duric was pulled down by a Thai defender in the penalty area.

At the 11-minute mark, Mustafic Faihrudin had to retake the shot but still calmly defeated goalkeeper Kawin, opening the score 1-0 for the Singapore team.

The goal helped Singapore play more excitedly. Dangerous situations were created continuously in front of the Thai goal, but Armi and then Duric were all unable to succeed in bringing home the second goal.

Meanwhile, after nearly half of the first half, Thailand gradually got used to the artificial turf. The Golden Temple team had more time to control the ball and started to create danger.

Thailand's most dangerous chance from the start of the match came in the 31st minute, when Anucha quickly ran down and fired a shot, but unfortunately the ball went just wide of the post while goalkeeper Izwan was watching.

The match continued to be extremely exciting in the second half, especially when the away team played higher up the pitch to look for an equalizer.

Thailand's efforts finally paid off when they equalized the score. In the 59th minute, Teerasil Dangda skillfully dribbled past the opponent before passing the ball inside to Adul Lahsoh to neatly finish the score at 1-1.

However, Thailand's joy only lasted for 3 minutes. In the 62nd minute, Alexsandra Duric made a very good pass for Khairul Amri to skillfully control the ball and then decisively shoot to raise the score to 2-1 for Singapore.

Immediately after Amri's goal to make it 2-1 for Singapore, the Thai team rose up strongly. In the 64th minute, Jakkapan took a dangerous free kick from a distance, forcing goalkeeper Izwan to struggle to push the ball over the crossbar, saving the home team.

The match seemed to end with a score of 2-1, but in the 90+1 minute, Khaizan scored the winning goal to make it 3-1, helping Singapore put one hand on the AFF Suzuki Cup 2012 championship trophy.

The second leg of the final between the two teams will take place on Saturday, December 22 at Supachalasai Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand.

Starting lineup:

Singapore:1-Izwan, 5-Khaizan, 8-Sulaiman, 4-Isa Halim, 16-Bennett, 17-Ishak, 21-Baharudin, 3-Esah, 15-Mustafic, 9-Duric, 19-Amri.

Thailand:1-Kawin, 2-Panupong, 3-Theerathon, 4-Chonlatit, 7-Thonglao, 11-Anucha, 12-Adul, 21-Piyapon, 18-Jakkapan, 19-Phichitphong, 10-Dangda.

Goals: Mustafic Faihrudin (9, pen), Khairul Amri (62), Khaizan (90+1) - Adul Lahsoh (59)./.

According to (Vietnam+) - DT