Last Dance For Veterans

Shahdan and Co stay motivated, knowing that this may be a final Asean C'ship tilt

- Deepanraj Ganesan

PHU THO - In the quiet Phu Tho province, 80km north-west of Vietnam's capital Hanoi, lies the Xuan Son National Park, where locals and tourists ascend several hiking paths which lead to mountains and caves.

Over at the provincial capital Viet Tri, about two hours' car ride away, a pack of wounded Lions are resting and plotting.

They have a mountain of their own to scale on Dec 29.

The second leg of their Asean Championship semi-final awaits at the Viet Tri Stadium, three days after a morale-sapping 2-0 defeat by Vietnam in the first leg at the Jalan Besar Stadium, where a brave display was undone by two injury-time goals.

The Lions will need at least two unanswered goals to stand a chance of ousting the Golden Star Warriors, who have conceded just twice in five matches. With the away-goals rule not in effect, even a 3-1 win for the Lions will only take the match to extra time.

History is not on their side, as Singapore have not beaten Vietnam since a 1-0 win in the 1998 final. The team must also quickly adapt to the environment, with the match set to kick off in a chilly 17 deg C amid a raucous atmosphere created by a sold-out 20,000 crowd.