Lion City Cup

Lion City Cup

The 23rd Canon Lion City Cup has served up an exciting football feast over the last week.

The momentum was sustained in the first semi-final, when the Singapore Under-16 team beat Italy's Juventus 4-3 on penalties at the Jalan Besar Stadium, with the score level at 2-2 after 90 minutes.

It was a great start for the hosts, with a goal as early as the fifth minute. Hazim Hassan's brilliant individual effort, his second goal of the tournament, made it one-nil for Singapore.

Eight minutes later, he was on the score sheet again, as Singapore dominated play.

The Italians came out stronger in the second half, and Fabio Gili took advantage of some slack defending from Singapore to drive in a low shot to send the home fans' nerves jangling.

In the 69th minute, off a corner, Gianluca Tartaglia headed in a second goal for Juventus, making it 2-2.

The Italians were down to ten men with four minutes left, when Tartaglia was red carded for a second bookable offence, but Singapore's Under-16s could not find the breakthrough.

The match went into a penalty shootout, and it was heartbreak for the visitors when Lorenzo Zarmanian fired against the crossbar to give the hosts the win and a place in Sunday's final.

In the second semi-final for the night, Brazil's Flamengo took on Singapore's Under-15 side.

Jorge Marco scored for the Brazilian's in the 36th minute. An own goal by Muhd Muhelmy in the 60th minute then gave the visitors a two-goal advantage. A third by Caio Rangel sealed the game.

Despite being a man down late in the match, after Herson Pinheiro was sent off for a rash tackle, Flamengo booked an encounter against the other Singapore team in the final.