SINGAPORE: Interim head coach Gavin Lee experienced a baptism of fire in his first game in charge of the Singapore national men's football team as they lost 2-1 to Malaysia in a friendly at the Bukit Jalil Stadium on Thursday (Sep 4) evening.

The hosts took the game to the Lions early on, possibly buoyed by the Kuala Lumpur home crowd and their last competitive match when they thumped Vietnam 4-0 in an Asian Cup qualifier in June.

Arif Aiman's snap shot from range forced a smart save from Singapore goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud. Izwan then spilled Brazil-born Joao Figueiredo's strike from the edge of the box, but Stuart Wilkin could not pounce on the loose ball.

By the 15th minute, Malaysia had earned their third corner of the match, with two yellow cards for the away team. After Nazmi Faiz

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