BANGKOK -- Trailing 3-1 on aggregate heading into the second leg of their ASEAN Championship semifinal against Thailand, few gave Singapore a realistic chance of overturning the deficit on Tuesday to progress to the decider.
Especially not when it was 14 years since they last defeated the War Elephants, with 2012 also happening to be the most recent of their four regional titles.
But with a valiant display at Rajamangala Stadium, Singapore nearly pulled off the unthinkable -- claiming a 2-1 victory but ultimately being eliminated 4-3 on aggregate.
In the end, the damage they were dealt in the opening 3-1 loss at home on Saturday just proved too much to overcome but the positives from their performance over 180 minutes against the Thais will be heartening to their ever-growing legion of fans that have really come onboard in the Gavin Lee era.
Thailand are used to dominating their opponents. In the first leg, they only had 28% of possession. On Tuesday, even playing away, Singapore again had significantly more of the ball -- finishing with 62% possession.
Right from the opening whistle, the Lions played like a team that believed they could pull off the improbable challenge ahead of them.
They would take a deserved lead on the stroke of halftime when a raking diagonal pass from Kyoga Nakamura straight through the heart of the pitch looked set to release Farhan Zulkifli down the right.
Sensing the danger, Thailand goalkeeper Kampol Pathomakkakul was quickly off his line and temporarily halted the threat but he was only able to divert the ball to Harhys Stewart -- who calmly sent a looping effort from all of 35 yards arching into the back of the unguarded net.
Nonetheless, Thailand already proved in the first leg that they have more than one way to hurt their opponents. They can counterattack too, and they also have a talented squad with many depth options -- even if they aren't close to being at their strongest at this tournament.
Conceding the opener sparked some life in them after the break. And in the 59th minute, regular starter Kakana Khamyok -- who Thailand coach Anthony Hudson was even able to keep in reserve as a halftime substitute -- made an enterprising charge and pass to release Wanchai Jarunongkran, whose advance down the left was illegally halted by Ryhan Stewart inside the area.
The penalty was awarded, and Kakana made no mistake in stepping up and dispatching a spot-kick beyond Izwan Mahbud's despairing dive to restore his team's aggregate advantage.
Yet, not long after -- in the 65th minute -- Singapore remarkably reclaimed the lead, again through sheer determination.
With Thailand struggling to clear a corner as Ilhan Fandi and Harhys did whatever they could to force the ball towards goal, it eventually broke loose down the right -- where Ryhan latched on and drilled a low cross into the six-yard box which ricochted off the calf of Pansa Hemviboon for an own-goal.
The minor miracle was now back on. And the visitors threw everything they had at Thailand.
Irfan Fandi climbed well at a corner but could only send a header straight at Kampol. Song Ui-Young was drawing on all his reserves to keep storming from box to box, and might have had a couple of clear sightings at goal if he just had a bit more luck with the final touch to create the extra yard he needed.
A number of speculative efforts from the edge of the box, including a piledriver from Nakamura, were desperately charged down by the War Elephants.
Of course, Singapore's increasing sense of adventure, or desperation, meant they were leaving plenty of gaps at the back.
For their part, Thailand also had their chances to kill off the contest. Twice in similar situations after breaking free down the left, Teerasak Poeiphimai was unlucky to be denied -- first by the post, and then from a superb point-blank range save by Izwan onto the woodwork.
Ultimately, it was not to be for Singapore although the belief they showed should give them plenty of reason to continue to believe.
"I think I've said this before and I joke about it again -- you cannot buy belief from [Singapore supermarkets] Sheng Siong or Prime," said Lee in his post-match news conference. "It's just not possible.
"Belief is built on evidence, and I think the Asian Cup qualification, the Okinawa [pre-tournament camp] and then with each game, with each window, we are just building more evidence for the players to trust.
"Trust that we can play, we can compete -- and then the question is 'can we do it even better against even bigger opposition?' And that's how we grow.
"And I think in this tournament, you saw against Vietnam, against Indonesia, and both legs against Thailand, largely we performed very well, right?
"Obviously, they [Thailand] have a good side and they punished us on the small, little errors. But these are again evidence for the players to take home and build on in the next window."
And when asked by ESPN if he is heartened that Singaporean football is now at a better place than it was at the start of the tournament, Lee revisited the feel-good factor that has largely been the overarching theme of their campaign.
"On the pitch, I think we have made some improvements," he added. "You know, game on game, we grew in this competition.
"But I think one thing that I think that we should be the proudest of is our connection with the fans. You know, within the tournament, to receive the kind of support we had at home, it's just amazing.
"You can ask Ryhan and the boys -- I think it's been a long while since we had this relationship, and we want to build on this, because I think the boys recognise, and the fans also recognise that this group of players, they know more and more what it means to play for the national team -- the duties they have.
"And every time they're out there, like tonight, they never gave up, they never give in -- things that I think Singaporeans are very proud of and they resonate with. So I think this is potentially one of the biggest takeaways that we can have from this competition."
Singapore may have exited the ASEAN Championship but it is not in vain.
Unlike in 2012, the Lions will not head home from Bangkok to an open-top bus parade with hundreds of supporters lining up the streets to see them show off the ASEAN Championship trophy.
They will still be welcomed back by plenty of appreciative and adoring fans, who they now have given plenty of reasons to believe -- simply with the own belief they have shown.