Macau 0, Singapore 1
After an almost four-year hiatus, the national Macau football team has returned to the field for an International “A” friendly match against Singapore, which the city-state won by 1-0.
The Macau Football Association (MFA) has said the match is part of the local team’s preparation for the 2026 World Cup Asian first-round qualifiers.
The last time the Macau team played an official match was June 19, 2019, against Sri Lanka, winning the match 1-0 with a goal by defender Filipe Duarte.
Then came the theatrical coup many in Macau would remember.
The MFA decided against travel to Sri Lanka for the second leg of the elimination round, claiming a lack of safety in the country after a terror attack that claimed the lives of 250 people one month earlier on April 21, 2019.
The non-consensual decision not only eliminated Macau from the competition, adding a defeat due to absence from the Sri Lankan match, but also caused several other shockwaves for the team which eventually diminished with the Covid-19 outbreak that stopped all activity.
Still, later that year, the MFA signed a new coach for the local team; Luso-Angolan Lázaro Oliveira.
Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 situation, Lázaro Oliveira returned to Portugal in March 2020, only returning to Macau to resume team preparations in mid-December last year after local authorities ended border restrictions and quarantine on arrival.
Oliveira said he is still adjusting to the local and very different reality in which all players are amateurs and there is little time available to train and practice.
To the same news agency, the coach expressed wishes that more friendly matches could be organized to give the team enough preparation before facing the first match of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup in mid-October this year.
As for players, the coach is now contacting several Macau residents currently abroad hoping to enlist them for the important upcoming matches.
Macau currently occupies the 182nd position in FIFA ranking while Singapore is a few places above at 160th place.
