Singapore coach V Sundramoorthy believes his side still have a chance of progressing to the next round of the AFF Suzuki Cup following the Lions' 1-0 defeat at the hands of Thailand on 22 November.
The clash at the Philippines Sports Stadium was edging towards a draw, before Sarawut Masuk's header in the 89th minute gave the War Elephants their second win of the tournament. In the first match, Sundramoorthy saw his side settle for a point against Indonesia, which has been their only point so far after two matches.
Thailand are leading the table with six points from two games, while host nation Phillipines are second with two points. Singapore are third with a point and are level on point with fourth place, Indonesia.
Singapore will take on Indoensia in the last group stage tie, while Phillipines take on Thailand. Only a victory for them and if Phillipines avoid a win will help the Lions secure a place in the semi-final of the Suzuki Cup.
Sundramoorthy was disappointed after failing to clinch a point against Thailand and he admitted that he would not have changed his defensive tactics, even if he made aware that his side would lose in the final moments of the game.
"We still have a chance to qualify and I think we will if we beat Indonesia. Now we have to prepare ourselves for the next game," Sundramoorthy explained, as quoted by FourFourTwo.
"I would do the same if given another chance. We were one minute 30 seconds away from snatching a draw against Thailand."
"We almost got that important point for us to progress to the next game to see where we stand. There were just minutes on the clock, but that's football."
"We should have scored with the breaks we had. If we had the right shots, it could have been a different game. I am proud of the boys and how they got stuck in, but we need to move on."
