SPANKED LIONS WILL LEARN

Ogura apologises, but insists they must challenge themselves and rivals to improve

- Deepanraj Ganesan

In the lead up to Singapore's World Cup qualifier against South Korea, Lions coach Tsutomu Ogura said that his charges were "up for the challenge".

On June 6, in front of 49,097 fans inside a sold-out National Stadium, the 23rd-ranked visitors showed that both teams were several classes apart as Singapore, at 155th spot, were taught a footballing lesson in a 7-0 thumping.

It was a deflating outcome for the fans, who packed the stands for what is the biggest turnout for a Lions match at the National Stadium.

The previous record was during Singapore's 3-1 loss to Malaysia in the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup when 48,183 spectators were in attendance.

Perhaps Ogura and the fans' confidence ahead of the tie stemmed from Singapore's last home outing, when the Lions showed heart, grit and intelligence to fight back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with China on March 21.

This time, while there was effort, there was also plenty of haphazard defending and an overall performance that displayed the vast gap between two sides 132 places apart in the Fifa world rankings.

Ogura, who looked crestfallen in his post-match conference, said: "I apologise to the Singapore football fans.

"So many people came today to watch the game but we could not show our football.