Thailand put a severe dent in Singapore's aspirations of retaining the AFF Suzuki Cup by beating them 2-1 in a Group B game played out in front of 32,148 fans at the majestic Sports Hub stadium.
An 89th minute penalty by Thailand's Swiss-born midfielder Chappuis Charyl proved the difference after Singapore defender Safuwan Baharudin handled in the box as the match seemed headed for a draw.
In a matchup between the two most successful teams in the history of the competition -- Singapore have won the Suzuki Cup four times while Thailand have three titles -- both teams came out with the intent to dominate possession. But it was the visitors who took charge early on with the midfield trident of Charyl Chappuis, Sarach Yooyen and Prakit Deeprom proving too much to handle.
Kiatisuk Senamuang's men took advantage of the Lions' defensive instability in the ninth minute when a quick throw-in from left-back Kroekrit Thawikan found an unmarked Deeprom in the box. He sent in a cross-shot that was slammed home from close range by winger Mongkol Thosakrai for a one-goal lead.
Singapore were left rattled but slowly found their rhythm and it resulted in the equaliser in the 19th minute.
With Mongkrol off the pitch receiving treatment for an injury, Shaiful Esah had all the time and space to whip in a delightful cross that found an incoming Khairul Amri who glanced it home to send the crowd into a mad frenzy.
The goal gave Singapore a huge boost and they began to show their might in attack. Shahril Ishak and Faris Ramli combined twice in the 23rd and 25th minutes but both attempts came to naught with Muangthong United's giant stopper Kawin Thamsatchanan impregnable in goal and Faris' careless first touch.
While the Thais had a string of chances, it was the home team who almost went ahead before the break. Amri's hustling paid off as he took the ball off Adison Promrak and released Faris but the LionsXII winger skied his shot high and wide.
Singapore came out in the second period with a huge surprise. Veteran defender Baihakki Khaizan was taken off with Zulfahmi Arifin coming into midfield and Hariss Harun dropping back.
Both teams had golden opportunities when Prakit's thunderbolt in the 51st minute was parried by Hassan Sunny and then Shahril was put through by Shahdan Sulaiman in the 62nd minute only to fluff his shot with Kawin to beat.
Kiatisuk made the expected change by bringing on Adisak Kraisorn and Chanathip Songkrasin with the latter -- a surprise exclusion from the starting lineup -- having been tipped to be Thailand's star player in this tournament.
The player they call Messi Jay in Thailand immediately got down to business, weaving in and out of space like his namesake. He went on to set up the War Elephants best chance in the 76th minute with a short pass to Sarach Yooyen who fired off a thumping drive, only to see Hassan pull off a wonderful save to send it out for a corner.
The Thais were finally rewarded for going for the jugular when Chappuis found space down the right and sent in a cross that was handled by Safuwan Baharudin. The Thai playmaker converted the spot-kick with just one minute remaining to leave Singapore empty-handed.
Lions' coach Stange later explained his decision to replace veteran defender Baihakki at half-time.
"I didn't want to finish this game against Thailand with 10 players," Stange said. "It's a long tournament and I would have finished this game with 10 players and Baihakki would be suspended for the next match. The next foul, the next touch would have been automatically a red card. We made some tactical changes and brought on Zulfahmi (Arifin) to partner Shahdan and put Hariss in defence and overall, our changes were successful today."
As for the result itself, the German tactician reckoned it was tough luck for his team.
"It was a high intensity game. 90 minutes of power and energy from both teams. And tonight, I finally know what the Kallang roar means. We started the game with a Christmas present, four weeks early for Thailand and it is very difficult to come back against a team like Thailand but it was amazing to see how our team performed till the very end. It was very unlucky (the penalty against Safuwan) and I think we deserved a draw."
Thai coach Kiatisuk agreed with his counterpart when he said that his side were fortunate to get all three points against a top-quality opponent.
He said: "It was a very tough game for us. Not easy at all. We wanted to come out and get the first goal and we were lucky with the second. We have to remember that this is a very young team and it was never going to be easy but I think we did well."
He went on to laud Singapore's goal scorer, Amri.
"Before the match, we already knew about Singapore's Amri who has a lot of experience in this tournament. When I was playing, he was a little boy but now he is a superstar already and today he showed it and he scored against us," added Kiatisuk.
Singapore will now have it all to do to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. They have to face former coach Radojko Avramovic's Myanmar on Wednesday while Thailand will take on Malaysia. Harimau Malaya will not have midfielder Gary Robbat available after his red card in the earlier game that ended goalless.
Singapore Starting XI: Hassan Sunny (GK), Safuwan Baharudin, Shaiful Esah, Baihakki Khaizan, Ismadi Mukhtar, Fariss Harun, Shahdan Sulaiman, Faris Ramli, Shahril Ishak (C), Sahil Suhaimi, Khairul Amri
Thailand Starting XI: Kawin Thamsatchanan (GK, C), Perapat Notechaiya, Praweenwat Boonyong, Kroekrit Thawikan, Sarach Yooyen, Charyl Chappuis, Atit Daosawang, Adison Promrak, Mongkol Thosakrai, Prakit Deeprom, Kirati Keawsombut