SINGAPORE -- A controversial finish to Thursday's ASEAN Championship semifinal at Jalan Besar Stadium saw Singapore suffer heartbreak as they suffered a 2-0 first leg loss at the hands of Vietnam.
After having a late penalty shout turned down -- which was not referred for a VAR review to the dismay of the majority of the 5,233 supporters present -- Singapore then conceded a spot-kick of their own which stood despite their furious protests.
Nguyễn Tiến Linh kept his nerve to fire Vietnam into lead in what was already the 101st minute, before there was even time for Rafaelson -- who seemed to relish playing the role of the home fans' pantomime villain -- to add a second three minutes later to puy clear daylight between the two teams ahead of Sunday's return encounter in Việt Trì.
Apart from the two penalty decisions, there was also a stunning 84th-minute strike by Rafaelson, immediately after Singapore's penalty appeal for Faris Ramli falling under the challenge of Hồ Tấn Tài was dismissed, that was ruled out for handball -- a decision that was upheld upon VAR review as the closing stages of the contest delivered sheer drama.
Despite the home crowd clearly irate at the decisions that went against them, Singapore coach Tsutomu Ogura adopted a more stoic approach as he instead focused on their late lapse in concetration that leaves them with a big hurdle to climb in the return encounter.
"Football is like this. Up till the final minute [of the 90] it was 0-0 but in [added] time we [conceded] two goals," he said.
"I always tell the players that football is not just 90 minutes. It's 90-plus minutes.
"We had a few chances we missed, especially in the second half. In football, this usually means that punishment is coming.
"Even if we conceded from the penalty, we didn't need to concede another goal. That is our fault."
Putting aside the obvious disappointment of losing the match late on, there would have been several positives for Ogura to take from their display -- especially considering his charges more than matched an opposition that were widely regarded as clear favourites for the tie.
Singapore's relentless pressing forced turnovers that resulted in loose balls that were unpredictable to the Vietnam players given their unfamiliarity with Jalan Besar Stadium's artificial turf.
One such turnover of possession saw Taufik Suparno come excruciatingly close to breaking the deadlock for Singapore in the 68th minute if not for a stunning save by Nguyễn Đình Triệu.
Moments earlier, an instant counterattack after winning possession in midfield saw Shawal Anuar deftly finishing after being released by a Hami Syahin through-pass only to have strayed offside.
Such moments offered glimpses of how all is still not lost for the Lions as they travel to Vietnam on Friday with a bit of a mountain to climb.
"There were some good moments when we weren't afraid to pass the ball around," Ogura added. "I kept telling them to pass, that they had time, to move the ball to the side ... we showed we can play our football.
"Now, it's about how many minutes in the 90 we can play this football. This, for us, is still the problem.
"Now we have to recover mentally. I always tell the players 'this game is now over'. The result is 0-2 but 0-2 is a dangerous score. This is the same all over the world.
"We've seen when teams are leading 2-0, bad things happen in the second half. If we make it 2-1, who knows what could happen?
"This is the mentality we must have."