Tiger Cup
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Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries compete in football for the Tiger Cup, which was inaugurated in 1996. A biennial affair, the Tiger Cup is sponsored by Singapore-based Asia Pacific Breweries, makers of Tiger Beer. Out of the five times that it had been held, Thailand has won thrice while Singapore has won twice. Indonesia has been runner-ups on three consecutive occasions (2000, 2002, 2004).
Timeline of tournaments
1996 The 1996 event, held in Singapore, was won by favourites Thailand, which defeated Malaysia 1-0 in the final.
1998 The 1998 tournament, held in Vietnam, was marred by an unsportsmanlike match between Thailand and Indonesia during the group stage of the competition - The winning side was due to face favourites Vietnam in the semi-finals. The first half saw little action, with both teams barely making an attempt to score a goal. During the second half the two teams made efforts to score, resulting in a 2-2 score at the 90th minute. As the game progressed into injury time, the Indonesian defender Mursyid Effendi deliberately kicked the ball into his own goal handing a 3-2 victory to Thailand. Both teams were fined for "violating the spirit of the game" and Mursyid Effendi was banned from football for life. Thailand went on to be trounced in the semi-finals by home side Vietnam. In the final, the title was to elude the hosts as they went down 1-0 to unfancied Singapore in one of the competition's biggest shocks to date.
2000 Thailand hosted the Tiger Cup in 2000 and, unsurprisingly, won the tournament as it powered through the competition, ending with a hat-trick by Thai player Worrawoot Srimaka to clinch a decisive 4-1 win over Indonesia.
2002 In the final contested between Thailand and Indonesia, Thailand took a 2-0 lead against hosts Indonesia by the end of the first half. However, the Indonesians battled back to level the score and force the game into a penalty shootout, which was won 4-2 by the Thais.
Therdsak Chaiman was named MVP of this tournament.
2004 The 2004 event was held from 7 December 2004 through 16 January 2005. Matches for Preliminary Group A were held in Vietnam while Preliminary Group B was staged in Malaysia.
Despite an unimpressive group stage campaign where Singapore notched draws against Vietnam and Indonesia, the team made it to the final where it clinched a 5-2 aggregate against Indonesia in the 2-legged draw (home and away). In the first leg held in Jakarta, Indonesia, Singapore surprised punters with a 3-1 victory. Singapore won 2-1 on home ground in the return leg 8 days later to claim the country's first international trophy on home soil.
In the 3rd-4th place playoff, Malaysia beat Myanmar for the third place.
Lionel Lewis was named MVP of this tournament.
See 2004 Tiger Cup for more details.id:Piala Tiger