Philippines silence critics with Lion City Cup triumph, Singapore finish second

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Captain Alexander Peter Lomibao lifting the trophy as the Philippines are crowned boys champions of the 2025 Lion City Cup at Jalan Besar Stadium on Jul 13, 2025.

ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR

Summary

• The Philippines U-16 team won the LCC tournament, topping their group with two wins and a draw, motivated by proving doubters wrong, according to Aaron Thomas Long.
• Despite a sluggish start against Cambodia, where they conceded early, the Philippines rallied to win 3-1, with Aaron scoring twice and finishing as top scorer.
• Singapore beat Hong Kong 4-1, securing second place. Coach Ashraf Ariffin hopes the team can gain more exposure ahead of the U-17 Asian Cup.

AI generated

SINGAPORE – The Philippines reigned supreme at the Lion City Cup (LCC),defeating Cambodia 3-1 at the Jalan Besar Stadium on July 13 to lift the Under-16 boys’ trophy.

With two wins and a draw, they topped the four-team group with seven points, one above hosts Singapore who beat Hong Kong 4-1 in the later match.

While the title will undoubtedly boost the Philippines’ morale going forward, Player of the Match and tournament top scorer Aaron Thomas Long said that winning the LCC was motivation long before a ball had even been kicked.

“There’s people on social media who were trying to speak bad about us and we had to clear that out of our minds and play to prove them wrong,” said the 16-year-old forward.

“People from our home country (were) talking bad about