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'War Elephants' Find 'Lions' A Handful

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 19 (Bernama) -- Thailand's "War Elephants" found Singapore's "Lions" to be a handful in the first leg of the final of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2012 at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore Wednesday night.

Thailand lost 1-3 in the match and will have to pull out all the stops in their home leg in order to lift the Cup for a fourth time.

Singapore, also three-time champions (1998, 2004 and 2007), were clearly the better side in the first half and created many scoring chances.

It paid dividends when they were awarded a penalty in the 10th minute which their naturalised player Mustafic Fahrudin converted.

Referee Toma Masaaki from Japan awarded the penalty after Singapore striker Aleksandar Duric was brought down in the box by a defender.

On resumption, the Thai players coached by Winfried Schafer from Germany adopted a different tack and went for the jugular but were denied by stout defending by the towering Baihakki Khaizan and Daniel Mark Bennett.

However, Adul Lahsoh managed to crack the stubborn wall when he slotted home a pass supplied by the tournament's top scorer Teerasil Dangda from the right.

However, just two minutes later, Mohamad Khairul Amri Mohd Kamal put the hosts back in the lead when he slammed home a cross supplied by Duric.

Jakkapan Pornsai almost levelled for Thailand again in the 63rd minute but his free kick was palmed away by Singapore keeper Mohamad Izwan Mahbud.

Baihakki Khaizan then put the result beyond all doubt when he pounced on the ball and fired it into the net during a goalmouth melee in the final minute of regular play.

The two teams will play the second leg of the final at the Supachalasai Stadium in Bangkok this Saturday (Dec 22).

-- BERNAMA

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