Japanese football club beats S'pore national team 7-1 in friendly

Yokohama F. Marinos, a Japanese football club, beat the Singapore national football team 7-1 on Oct. 14.

In the last training match of the centralised camp in Japan, the Singapore Men’s National Team lost 7-1 to Yokohama F. Marinos. pic.twitter.com/5pyXmEmgQd

— FAS (@FASingapore) October 14, 2024

The result rounded up the Singapore team's 10-day training camp in Japan.

The J1 League side scored seven goals within 53 minutes of the game.

Singapore scored its consolation goal in the 50th minute.

Before this match, Singapore lost 4-0 to FC Tokyo on Oct. 8 and beat Tokyo Verdy 2-1 three days later.

The schedule is to replicate the conditions and fatigue of playing four group games in 13 days in the Dec. 8 to Jan. 5 Asean Football Federation Championship.

Could have been a wider margin

Singapore coach Tsutomu Ogura told The Straits Times post-match: : “We need to improve everything – offence, defence, intensity, one-against-one, individual and group technique.

He added that the match made it evident first-hand the disparity in quality as the Singapore footballers only "had a feeling how big the gap" was before playing.

Losing 10-0 or 20-0 was also possible without good offense and defence, Ogura added.

The match took place in front of about 300 spectators that included the club’s youth teams, fans and coaches.

The Marinos fielded a team made up of several reserves after losing the J-League Cup semi-finals on aggregate a day earlier.

The match was an eye-opener for the younger players to get a taste of the quality of football and what is needed to succeed at the highest professional level, it was reported.

The Singapore team comprised of players with an average age of 23.5 years.

The Japanese side, currently 12th in the 20-team J1 League, dominated the first half by showcasing their situational awareness and footballing intelligence with their passing and pushing forward as individuals and as a team.

Singapore became better organised in the second half after Ogura introduced senior players, it was reported, and managed to score once.

Top photo via FAS