The Singapore national football team shocked everyone everywhere when they managed to hold their own against their Japanese counterparts in the opening 2018 World Cup qualifier.
The Japanese team were clearly frustrated by the end of the match when it ended in a scoreless draw, even though they were the overwhelming favourites to head into the Asian qualifying round as they pitted against their guests at Saitama Stadium, fully packed with 57,533 fans.
The star of the game would have to be the Singaporean goalie Izwan Mahbud who put in the performance of his life fending off the continuous assault rained down by the Japanese team, FourFourTwo reports. With both sheer luck and skill, he managed to save all 23 shots over the duration of the 95-minute match.
Izwan must have been overwhelmed by the attention post-match when he faced the swarm of Japanese journalists astounded by the way he handled himself during the match.
Always nice to hear a good underdog story. Singapore will have to keep it up in the next World Cup qualifier match in September when they face Syria.
Photo: FAS Facebook page
