Lion City Cup

SINGAPORE - The Singapore National Football Academy (NFA) under-15s will not be joining their under-16 team-mates in the semi-finals of the 24th Canon Lion City Cup.

At the Jalan Besar Stadium last night, the Singaporean side went down 6-0 to their peers from English Premiership side Manchester City.

The boys from the club, who are the current English Premier League champions, struck with a brace from Joseph Nutall in the 15th and 20th minutes, Marcus Wood (38th), Aaron Nemane (48th), Lukas Nmecha (49th) and Joseph Hardy after 56 minutes.

The result follows Monday's 2-1 loss to Brazil's Vasco da Gama, and NFA under-15s coach Nazri Nasir said: "We were outplayed in many areas. We just could not cope with them. We have the English and Brazilian styles (here) and to be honest you seldom get the opportunity to play against them.

"Maybe we have to start looking for physically stronger players in future if we want to match the best."

Yesterday also saw Dutch giants Ajax Amsterdam beat Portugal's FC Porto 3-1 to book their semi-final spot as runners-up in Group B to the Singapore NFA under-16s side.

Tomorrow's semi-finals will see Ajax face Man City, while the Singapore NFA under-16s take on Vasco da Gama. DAN GUEN CHIN / TODAY