HANOI, Vietnam -- Singapore have a maximum six points from their opening two games at the 2026 ASEAN Championship to their names.
Their next outing is a daunting trip to Mỹ Đình National Stadium to face the tournament's defending champions Vietnam, who convincingly beat them 5-1 on aggregate in the semifinals of the previous edition just one and a half years ago.
Singapore's last victory over Vietnam came almost three decades ago in the final of the 1998 ASEAN Championship, when the Lions won the first of their four regional crowns courtesy of R. Sasikumar's famous "shoulder of God" winner.
Ordinarily, all these factors combined would mean that a draw against the Vietnamese on Friday will hardly be the worst result for Singapore.
It would keep them top of Group A heading into the final round of group-stage matches -- where they face another tough test against Indonesia on Aug. 7.
Still, there is always a danger in going into a game with the mindset of playing for a draw.
And, given it also goes against Singapore's quest to show constant progress with each passing match, as well as their coach Gavin Lee's philosophy of going into every game believing they can win, it means that the Lions will head into the tie not just looking to hold Vietnam at bay.
"It goes back to values of how we approach things," said Lee, when asked by ESPN in Thursday's prematch news conference how he would balance pragmatism with ambition in his approach.
"Like you said, we don't want to be either end of spectrum but, ultimately, every game is about staying in the game, regardless of the opposition. As long as we stay in the game, we have the quality to hurt most teams.
"It doesn't matter the state or stage of the game. We just have to stay in the game and that means to control what we can control and apply ourselves in situations, not allow the situations to push us far away from our objectives.
"We recognise tomorrow night won't be easy from the get-go. From the first minute to the last, our job is to stay in the game and let our football bring us to the destination that we want."
Given Singapore's poor record against Vietnam in recent times, Lee could be forgiven for clutching onto any good omen.
Rather humorously, Thursday was the fifth straight news conference he fielded alongside striker Ilhan Fandi. All three pre-match were by design. It just so happened that Ilhan was also named player of the match against Cambodia and Timor-Leste, which guaranteed his post-match presence after Singapore's two wins so far.
Lee may have never been afraid to tweak his starting XI but it appears he is happy to stick with a winning formula when it comes to media duties, even if he does not seem the superstitious type.
"For us, we're just focused on the game tomorrow," said Ilhan on the recent head-to-head record between the two teams.
"If we get a good performance or if we can get a good win, it will help us throughout the tournament and the next game against Indonesia.
"We know it's not going to be easy but everyone is ready and, like I always say: 'if you do your best, God will do the rest'."
More so than just getting one over Vietnam finally, Lee believes a victory on Friday will also be testament to how Singapore continue to be on the right path in the bigger picture.
"Ideally, every game we win," he added. "Ultimately, tomorrow's test [will be] another indication is how far we've come as a group.
"The bigger picture for us is in the Asian Cup. We want to build ourselves to arrive for that [next January]. Vietnam is in the Asian Cup as well, so it's a very good test for us to see where we are and what else we need to work on.
"We also played them at the last [ASEAN Championship] and we'll get a good barometer [of the progress made since then]. At the same time, Vietnam are a better team than last time with new players.
"All of us just can't wait for the challenge because -- these boys -- I know they like a challenge."
