Singapore women’s football team suffer back-to-back defeats against Hong Kong friendly matches

The Singapore women’s football team suffered two consecutive defeats against Hong Kong in the Women’s ‘A’ International Friendlies which took place on Jun 23 and 26 at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

The first encounter between the two teams saw 132nd-ranked Singapore suffer a 0-4 defeat against 78th ranked Hong Kong, with the Lionesses conceding two goals in both halves of the game.

The Lionesses later suffered a narrow 0-1 defeat in the second game. Despite the loss, national team head coach Stephen Ng described that game as “improved and settled” as the team managed to concede only once.

He added: “We came in with a clear game plan and the girls have worked the system. This is good for us going into the AFF Championship.

“(Of course), there are areas to improve on. It is an ongoing thing for football and, as a whole, the two games helped us in (terms of) getting good intensity practices.”

Albirex Niigata’s Irsalina Irwan became the sixth-youngest debutant for the Singapore women’s team, at 15 years old and 173 days.

Three others – Tanjong Pagar goalkeeper Nurul Haziqah Haswan, 19; Still Aerion forward Claire Tay, 20; and Black Rock forward Summer Chong, 18 – were also handed their international debuts during the friendlies series.

The Lionesses will continue preparations for the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Women’s Championship 2022 before departing for Manila, Philippines on Jul 1. They will take on Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Australia in Group A of the tournament.