The lone representative of the Philippines in the currently held 2012 Singapore Cup, Loyola Meralco Sparks was defeated by the depending S. League Champions Tampines Rovers with the final score at 2-0.
Naturalized striker of Singapore Aleksandar Duric, one of Singapore’s most popular footballer and member of the national team led the attacked against the Sparks which was also bannered by the Younghusband brothers.
The loss of the Meralco Sparks is their second loss in the competition after they have reached the semi-finals of the tournament.
The first leg of the semi-finals was held at the Clementi Stadium in Singapore. Duric scored the first goal at around 29th minutes of the game giving the Singapore side a 1-nil advantage at the end of first half.
The second goal from the Singaporean squad came from Ahmad Latiff who scored the goal at around 50th minutes of the second half putting the Sparks scoreless.
The Loyola Meralco Sparks made a goal but it was disallowed by the referee, when former Azkals’ member Chad Gould hit a header off a free kick from Korean import Kim Woo-Chul in the 59th minutes.
The Sparks found it difficult to control the tempo of the ball game and one of their problem was the absent of their key players in the line-up. James Younghusband was not include in the starting line-up due to his fever although he made an entry in the 37th minute.
The defeat of the Loyola Meralco Sparks against the Rovers will put them in trouble for the next match of the semi-final. The Sparks needs to outscore the Rovers by two goals to stay in contention and make it to the finals of the tournament.
The second leg will be held on Sunday at the Jelan Besar Stadium in Singapore, the winner will move on to the finals of the 2012 Singapore Cup.
