S'PORE OUT BUT PROUD

VAR drama does Lions no favours again but captain Hariss praises team's fighting spirit

- Deepanraj Ganesan

PHU THO - The Singapore footballers arrived in Vietnam aware of their mission: Strike early to silence the vociferous home crowd in a bid to claw back the 2-0 semi-final, first-leg deficit at the Asean Championship.

And while the Lions were able to find the net as early as the 10th minute, it was contentiously ruled out in the first sign of what would ultimately be a night of frustration as the Lions' comeback mission unravelled at the Viet Tri Stadium in the Phu Tho province.

On Dec 29, it was Vietnam, backed by a raucous sea of 15,284 supporters, who emerged 3-1 victors for a 5-1 aggregate victory.

Lions captain Hariss Harun, like the rest of his squad, was downcast at the final whistle as they trudged to the team bus.

Harris, 34, shrugged his shoulders when asked about the disallowed goal by Faris Ramli, and said "it is what it is".

He added: "When we saw the ball hit the net, we were all given an extra boost. We wanted to get the ball and start again, but then there was a long wait. So it was tough.

"It's always tough to come here to play. I think we threw everything that we possibly could.

"Sometimes these things happen in football, we have to deal with it. We have to accept it and move on."