Match: Singapore v Syria
Date: 9 November, Wednesday
Time: 8pm SGT/5:30pm IST/12pm GMT
Venue: Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium, Negeri Sembilan
TV Channel: There is no live TV coverage of the friendly match in Singapore.
Live Updates will be available on Singapore football Twitter page.
Overview
Singapore take on Syria in an international friendly on Wednesday in the final leg of their preparations for the AFF Suzuki Cup 2016.
The Lions returned from five-day training camp in Qatar, in which they had mixed results while playing against local sides. While their first game reportedly went in their favour after Shafiq Gani, Shahril Ishak and Gabriel Quak netted to give them a 4-2 result, they lost their second game 1-0.
Singapore have only two more competitive games - they face Cambodia at home on Sunday - before they travel to Manila for their Suzuki Cup campaign. V Sundramoorthy's side are under a lot of pressure as they have not been able to produce positive results in the recent past due to which they have slipped to their worst-ever Fifa rankings (171).
Drawn in Group A at the Asean tournament, Singapore will face higher-ranked sides Philippines (124), Thailand (146) and also Indonesia (179), who have done well since their return from international suspension.
Sundram believes his players have better team bonding after the training camp and are motivated to produce good results. He added that the upcoming test against Syria, who according to him have a similar style to their group opponents Philippines, will be helpful to assess their "physicality and intensity".
"Syria are as good, if not better than the Philippines. It will be a good test for us in terms of physicality and intensity, and the players will need to be up and about," Sundram, who is likely to field a strong unit from his 28-man squad, said, as quoted by The New Paper.
Meanwhile, Syria, who defeated the Lions in both their World Cup Qualifier clashes in 2015, have the edge over for Wedneday's clash.
The Qaison Eagles would want to improve their attacking intent against the Lions as they have netted only once in their last five outings and gear up for their World Cup qualifier against Iran on 15 November.
Team news
Singapore
Possible XI: Hassan Sunny; Faritz Hameed, Baihakki Khaizan, Daniel Bennett, Shakir Hamzah; Yasir Hanapi, M Anumanthan, Hariss Harun, Safuwan Baharudin, Hafiz Sujad, Khairul Amri
Syria
Possible XI: Ibrahim Alma; Alaa Al Shebli, Omar Al Midani, Ahmad Al Saleh, Moayad Ajan; Tamer Haj Mohamad, Khaled Mobayed, Mahmoud Al Mawas, Omar Khribin, Yousef Qalfa; Sanharib Malki
