SAFFC 0-2 Suwon: Bok bemoans penalty decision

Suwon's Brazilian defender Jorge Luiz contests possession with Singapore Armed Forces' skipper Aleksandar Duric. (AFP)

SINGAPORE – Singapore Armed Forces coach Richard Bok felt that his side were harshly punished by a controversial penalty as the Warriors went down 2-0 to Suwon Bluewings at Jalan Besar Stadium on Wednesday.

The S-League champions held the Korean side at bay for 65 minutes but their resistance was finally broken when the visitors were awarded a spot kick after Daniel Bennett appeared to handle in the box.

The incident was not spotted by Saudi referee Khalil Ibrahim Al Ghamdi but he awarded the penalty after consulting his assistant.

Edu converted and added a second six minutes later to give Suwon their second consecutive win in Group G and Bok felt the decision proved the turning point in the encounter.

“I thought we were doing well in the game until what looked to me like a harsh penalty,” said the SAF coach.

“That really changed the game for us as it broke our spirit. I thought that we had given a good account of ourselves until that point. The players stuck to the game plan and gave 100%.

“I can’t say too much about the awarding of the penalty because even the referee didn’t see anything – it was the linesman who saw it. One moment we were controlling the ball and the next we had conceded a penalty and I thought that was very harsh.”

Suwon coach Cha Bum-kun was adamant the referee made the right decision.

“It was definitely a penalty because it was a clear handball. The only question was why the referee did not see it and the decision had to be made by the assistant,” he said.

Cha opted not to include several senior players in the squad that travelled to Singapore including goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae, key midfielders Song Chong-gu and Kim Dae-eui and China international defender Li Weifeng.

But he felt that the decision to leave them in Korea was fully justified by the result.

“I’m glad that we didn’t bring them over from Korea because the weather here is very hot and as senior players, they might have had more trouble adjusting to the conditions.

“Our younger players were able to cope better with the weather and the artificial turf which many of them have trained on and played on at school level.

“I felt that we controlled the match and could have had more goals. But given the conditions, I think that 2-0 was a good score. It was not an easy game but it was not a game we could afford to lose.”