Gulf in class good lesson for Lions in Japan, says Ogura

YOKOHAMA - The Lions were on the receiving end of a chastening 7-1 defeat by J1 League's Yokohama F. Marinos on Oct 14, when they rounded up their 10-day training camp in Japan.

- David Lee

Singapore coach Tsutomu Ogura did not mince his words as he told The Straits Times post-match at the F. Marinos Sports Park: “We need to improve everything – offence, defence, intensity, one-against-one, individual and group technique.

“Before this, they had a feeling how big the gap was between them and J1 teams, but this became real for them when they actually played.

“They knew what they had to do. I told the players we needed things like good defence and good organisation, and if we were missing any one of these areas, losing 10-0 or 20-0 is possible.”

A lopsided score did materialise in front of about 300 spectators that included the club's youth teams, fans and coaches, such as former Albirex Niigata coach Kazuaki Yoshinaga. After losing the J-League Cup semi-finals on aggregate a day earlier, the hosts started with mainly second stringers, seven of whom have made at least 17 appearances this season.

In contrast, Ogura fielded a young side with an average age of 23.5 years - they had four uncapped players and a combined total of only 104 caps.