Malaysia, S'pore roar in Tiger Cup

Malaysia, S'pore roar in Tiger Cup

SINGAPORE (AFP): Malaysia and Singapore both recorded strong wins against the Philippines and Brunei respectively in their Group B games Wednesday at the 1996 Tiger Cup.

Their victories make it almost inevitable that goal difference will be what splits the two sides in their tussle behind group favorite Thailand.

Singapore drew 1-1 with Malaysia in the opening game Sunday but both sides put behind them criticism of their stultifying play as the hosts outgunned Brunei 3-0 and Malaysia thumped Philippines 7-0.

Malaysia's win included a hat trick to new-boy K. Sanbagamaran who scored in the 36th, 61st and 89th minute.

'Sanba Man', as the local media has dubbed the deadball specialist, was well supported with teammates Azman Adnan (43rd), Samsurin Rahman (53rd and 81st) and M Chandran (78th) overpowering the Philippines defense.

Although the Philippines are not rated in the tournament, the win will give coach Wan Jamak Hassan a valuable psychological boost in convincing his side, drawn mostly from its Olympic squad, that it does have what it takes to beat the more established sides in Thailand and Singapore.

Singapore's win promised to be the goalrout of the tournament when the Lions were two goals up within four minutes from Hasnim Haron in the opening minute and Steven Tan's penalty three minutes later.

Brunei marshaled its defense though and only a strong solo effort from Singapore's team captain Fandi Ahmad in the 51st minute was enough to score the third and closing goal.

In Thursday's games from Group A the action has a distinctively Indochinese flavor with Myanmar's first match in the Tiger Cup against Cambodia while Vietnam faces the spirited Laotians.

Results: Malaysia 7 Philippines 0 Singapore 3 Brunei 0

Group B standings (tabulated under played, won, draw, lost, points): Malaysia 2 1 1 0 4 Singapore 2 1 1 0 4 Thailand 1 1 0 0 3 Brunei 1 0 0 1 0 Philippines 2 0 0 2 0