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Sunday, March 4, 2012

Avramovic blasted by fans after Iraq humiliation

There are no picket signs outside the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Jalan Besar headquarters, but many local fans have taken their cans of spray paint to walls in virtual spaces, and much of their angry graffiti have called for the head of national coach Radojko Avramovic.

Despite his charges losing all six of their third round World Cup Group A qualifiers, and a number of fans losing their patience after Wednesday's 7-1 mauling by Iraq, the Serb insisted yesterday he remains focused on the target set for the team this year.

"I don't discuss things with those online simply because what they talk about is based on theory," the 62-year-old said.

Avramovic has his eyes firmly fixed on the Lions' biggest assignment in 2012: December's AFF Suzuki Cup.

"I don't feel pressure. Our aim was to qualify for the third round of the World Cup qualifiers, and we did that. And this year our only target is the Suzuki Cup, and we want to play in the final there," he said.

"I don't think our standards have dropped since the time we beat Iraq and Jordan and drew with China. It's a question of building players up from that time, and we haven't had enough preparation for tournaments and opportunities to actually bring all these players together," he claimed.

According to Avramovic, he has not been able to use all the resources available to him in many matches.

Issues like National Service (NS) - Hariss Harun, Safuwan Baharudin, Shakir Hamzah and Yasir Hanapi all missed the match against Iraq - and few opportunities for quality international fixtures have plagued the national team in recent years.

He has already pencilled in a 15-day centralised training programme for his squad ahead of the Suzuki Cup to ensure adequate preparation for what many believe will be his last stand as Singapore coach but Avramovic said: "It won't be good for anyone if you can't get everyone together and can't have good enough preparation. That's the reality."

ORIGINAL SOURCE
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