team to the quarter-finals of the 2002 Asian Games in October, which they lost 1–0 to eventual silver medalists Iran. His contract was however terminated when in December when hosts Kuwait failed to reach the semi-finals of the 2002 Arab Nations Cup. From February to July 2003, he coached Omani outfit Muscat Club to the 2002-03 Omani League title. Singapore In December 2002, Singapore failed to achieve their target of reaching the 2002 Tiger Cup final. The results included a 4–0 loss to traditional rivals Malaysia at the National Stadium and Singapore exited the competition on an inferior goal difference at the group stage. Coach Jan B. Poulsen was sacked in the aftermath and after a six-month search, Avramović was appointed as coach of Singapore's senior and under-23 teams on a two-and-a-half-year contract in July 2003. The FAS tasked him with the targets of qualifying for the 2004 Asian Cup, as well as reaching the finals of the 2004 Tiger Cup and 2005 Southeast Asian Games. He took charge of his first game with a 4–1 international friendly win over Hong Kong in August. The Lions started their 2004 Asian Cup qualifying campaign with two defeats to Avramović's former team, Kuwait in September. They gained their first points with a win and a draw over Palestine. A 2–0 defeat to Qatar in November dashed their hopes of reaching the finals. In the post-mortem, Avramović stated his emphasis on developing more young players for the national squad. Singapore were drawn in the same group as Japan, India and Oman for the 2006 World Cup qualification in 2004. They finished bottom of Group 3 with a win and five losses, including two narrow defeats to 2000 AFC Asian Cup winners Japan and a 7–0 trashing by Oman in Muscat on 9 June. The 2004 Tiger Cup draw pitted Singapore against Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos and co-hosts Vietnam in Group A. Despite a record of four wins in eighteen matches, the FAS gave their assurance that Avramović would not be sacked even if he failed to meet the target of reaching the tournament final. His Tiger Cup squad included naturalised players Daniel Bennett, Agu Casmir and Itimi Dickson. Singapore drew 1–1 with Vietnam in their opening match, following it up with a 2–2 stalemate against Indonesia. A 6–2 win over Laos and a 3–0 defeat of Cambodia ensured their passage to the semi-finals as