In a stunning turn of events last Saturday evening at Kuala Lumpur's Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Singapore's LionsXII team booted reigning champions Kelantan to clinch the Malaysia FA Cup trophy in a stunning 3-1 victory.
The evening saw 6,000 Singaporeans making the trip up to KL to support the local lads, reports The New Paper, and boy was the journey worth it.
The match kicked off to an excellent start as LionsXII winger Faris Ramli managed to break through the Kelantan defence and scored a goal at the six-minute mark. The Singapore team managed to fend off attacks but Kelantan's Wan Zack Haikal eventually scored the equaliser at the 63rd minute.
The final minutes of the match were where the LionsXII found their second wind, with substitute forward Sahil Suhaimi punting in a goal, putting his team in the lead with 2-1 with nine minutes left. He earned an injury-time penalty later on and scored yet another goal, driving the final nail in Kelantan's coffin.
This would be the first time ever that the LionsXII entered the Malaysia FA Cup final, and the first big win under coach and Singapore football icon Fandi Ahmad.
At Changi Airport yesterday evening, the LionsXII team returned to Singapore to a heroes' welcome as hundreds of fans, both young and old, greeted the team and celebrated the win on home ground.
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Crowd at Airport Terminal 2,welcoming #LionsXII
Posted by Exclusive Singapore Lions XII on Sunday, 24 May 2015
The Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim however is disappointed over the outcome of the match, likening the LionsXII victory as "similar to a Scotland under-23 team defeating Manchester United or any other big English clubs", while slamming the state of Malaysian football.
Photo: Facebook; Kurt Ganapathy
In a stunning turn of events last Saturday evening at Kuala Lumpur's Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Singapore's LionsXII team booted reigning champions Kelantan to clinch the Malaysia FA Cup trophy in a stunning 3-1 victory.
The evening saw 6,000 Singaporeans making the trip up to KL to support the local lads, reports The New Paper, and boy was the journey worth it.
The match kicked off to an excellent start as LionsXII winger Faris Ramli managed to break through the Kelantan defence and scored a goal at the six-minute mark. The Singapore team managed to fend off attacks but Kelantan's Wan Zack Haikal eventually scored the equaliser at the 63rd minute.
The final minutes of the match were where the LionsXII found their second wind, with substitute forward Sahil Suhaimi punting in a goal, putting his team in the lead with 2-1 with nine minutes left. He earned an injury-time penalty later on and scored yet another goal, driving the final nail in Kelantan's coffin.
This would be the first time ever that the LionsXII entered the Malaysia FA Cup final, and the first big win under coach and Singapore football icon Fandi Ahmad.
At Changi Airport yesterday evening, the LionsXII team returned to Singapore to a heroes' welcome as hundreds of fans, both young and old, greeted the team and celebrated the win on home ground.
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Crowd at Airport Terminal 2,welcoming #LionsXII
Posted by Exclusive Singapore Lions XII on Sunday, 24 May 2015
The Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim however is disappointed over the outcome of the match, likening the LionsXII victory as "similar to a Scotland under-23 team defeating Manchester United or any other big English clubs", while slamming the state of Malaysian football.
Photo: Facebook; Kurt Ganapathy