Singapore Lions devour Thai Elephants, clinch AFF title

MANILA, Philippines -  The Singapore Lions, the conquerors of the Philippine Azkals in the 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup semifinals, completed their run to a record fourth title via a 3-2 victory on goal aggregate over Thailand at the Supachalasai Stadium in Bangkok Saturday night.

The War Elephants actually scored a 1-0 triumph in the second leg, on a 45th minute goal by Kirati Keawsombut but it wasn’t enough to topple the Lions, who laid the cushion for the conquest with a commanding 3-1 win in the previous first leg over in Singapore.

Lions coach Radojko Avramovic won his third Southeast Asian crown in a fitting swan song for the side he steered to the title in 2004 and 2007. Singapore was also champion of the inaugural bootfest in 1996.

“I think we deserved the title. We dominated the first game and scored enough goals to win the title,” said Avramovic.

The Lions earlier topped Group B with six points then held off the surging Azkals in the semis on goal aggregate, 1-0, to march into the finale. The War Elephants, for their part, went unbeaten in Group A then prevailed over semis rival Malaysia on aggregate, 3-1, to advance.

“It was a long campaign and in the end the best two teams played the final. I do not think Thailand can be called losers. They tried their best tonight and we tried our best in Singapore. We beat them there and they beat us tonight,” said Avramovic, also confirming this was his last game after nine years at the helm.

The Lions netted $200,000 for the title while the War Elephants got $75,000. The Azkals and the Malaysian Tigers each earned $50,000.

Meanwhile, the Asean Football Federation, during its council meeting in Bangkok, has pledged $100,000 to victims of typhoon “Pablo” (International Name Bopha) in the Philippines.

Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah said the aid will be disbursed via the Philippine Football Federation, which, he said, will arrange a handover next month.

“Pablo” hit southern Philippines early December and left over 1,000 dead and over 300,000 homeless in its wake. Before the first leg of the semis showdown between the Azkals and the Lions at Rizal Memorial Football Stadium, a minute of silence was observed to pay respects to the victims of “Pablo.”