DILI, 26 october 2021 (TATOLI) – Timor-Leste’s national Under-23 team played defensively last night as the game ended 2-2 after Paulo Gally was sent off the Jalan Besar Stadium of Singapore.
Both teams would have to put a lot of effort to defeat the Philipines and South Korea in the upcoming games to move forward to the next matches of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup.
During the first half of the match, Singapore took the lead after a goal was scored in the 34 minutes of the game.
After taking the lead, the Singaporean team committed two defensive mistakes and the Crocodile’s team took a shock lead by capturing a 2-1 advantage in the first half of the playoff game.
The lead lasted only five minutes as the crocodile’s team scored an equalizer goal with Gali’s cross went through to Juanito Elias Mesquita, who put the ball at the back post in the 40th minutes.
Again, in the 42nd minute, a defensive mistake by the Singaporean team gave Junito Elias Mesquita (7) another brilliant opportunity to take the ball. Through his long-range passing at the far post, gave Paulo Gally an easy task to joyfully put the ball into the back of the net.
With only ten-man on the pitch, leaving Timor-Leste’s vulnerable to the high-pressure attacks of the Singaporean national team with a couple of shots on target, which were successfully saved by the crocodile’s goalkeeper.
During the second half of the match, the Singaporean team put high pressure and created many chances, but couldn’t score a goal.
Near to the end of the game, however, the Singaporean team launched a final attack, and the cross from the right finally managed to reach Jordan Emaviwe, a defender pushed into the frontline to score the equalizer goal.
A total of 11 groups will contest the U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers, with the group winners and four best second-placed teams set to advance to the final stage. The U-23 Asian Cup will be held in Uzbekistan in June 2022, said Yahoo News.
Journalist: Hortencio Sanchez
Editor: Florencio Miranda Ximenes
Translation: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges Rosario
