Written by: Kenneth Ho

Singapore’s football training stint in Austria came to a 2-0 losing end against Dinamo Moscow, but head coach Bernd Stange asserted that he saw enough in that match to convince him of the calibre Singaporeans possess.

“It was the best performance of the trip. I am never happy when we lose, but the way the players performed today pleased me very much, especially the first 60 minutes,” Stange said.

“We matched them for the first hour and played great football, but Dinamo Moscow increased their speed and power and we could not keep up.

“For example, Al-Qaasimy had a good performance even playing against a star like Yuri Zhirkov, but began to make mistakes in the second half due to his fitness.

“What this shows is that we have talent in Singapore, we just need to improve the fitness.”

Stange was also pleased that the training stint afforded him a better look at some of the upcoming youths.

German said after the game that some young players were able to step up and could bring more to the table than before.

“I was also pleased with our youngsters – Al-Qaasimy, Iqbal Hussain and Sahil Suhaimi – it was a great lesson for them. No team in South-east Asia can press as hard and as high up the pitch as Dinamo did,” Stange stated.

There were others who were singled out for praise as well, with Warriors goalkeeper Hassan Sunny one of them. The custodian was a busy man for most part of the game against Dinamo Moscow, and it was due credit to him that the scoreline remained respectable.