TIGER CUP 2002

KOPI-TALKS

TIGER CUP 2002 : TEAM SINGAPORE

Training Lions

Once again the Singapore National Team for football showed that they are but a one-half team. In tonight's crunch match against the Tiger Cup Defending Champion Thailand, Singapore has to win to make it to the semi-final stage of the tournament. Team Singapore only managed a draw after some feeble efforts.

Prior to tonight's match, Team Singapore has lost to "arch enemy" Malaysia by a 4-0 score line on Wednesday night. Immediately, the Lions (Team Singapore's nickname) received criticisms from all directions. The loss is unacceptable based on the immense support and huge funding that the national football program has been getting from the Government and the sponsors. It was the darkest hour for Singapore football.

Then came the toothless performance against a young and inexperience Laos team. Though Team Singapore has more experience than the Laos team, Team Singapore nonetheless struggled to keep the Laos' players at bay. With 2 strokes of luck, Singapore won the Friday match 2-1, though the Laos players fought harder and played with more invention than Team Singapore. And as if the opponents' resilience was not enough, Singapore was down to 10 men at 60th minute when Goh Tat Chuan (Midfield, No. 14) was sent off with a 2nd yellow card. Luckily for Singapore, Laos was no match for us.

Singapore started the match poorly against Thailand tonight. The Singapore players had no intention to take the game to the Thais and were punished when they went 1 goal behind after 15 minutes. Thailand broke away speedily on the right and the cross into the box found Worawoot Srimaka (Forward, No. 14) who headed the ball powerfully into the net at the near post.

Though Singapore needed a win to advance to the semi-finals, they continued to show their lack of ambition by defending deep and did little to pressurize the Thais, much to the frustration of the Singapore Fans. With some luck, Singapore managed to equalize at 44th minute against the flow of play through Mohd Noor Ali (Forward, No. 19) to go into the half time at 1-1.

The 2nd half was an livelier affair. The Lions increased their tempo and tried to snatch a win from the organized Thais. With time ticking away, Singapore brought on its only playmaker, ageing Vice Captain Rafi Ali (Midfielder, No. 3) to try and create chances but Rafi failed to deliver.

In conclusion, Co-host Singapore does not deserve to advance to the semi-final stage of Tiger Cup 2002. Singapore football is still at the infancy stage of its rebuilding process and we should indeed try our very best to find younger players to replace the Old Guards like Captain Nazri Nasir (Midfield, No. 7), Zulkarnaen Zainal (Midfield, No. 12) and Rafi Ali before they become liabilities. Just look at how well Malaysia has done with their youth development when their young team beat us 4-0 on Wednesday. Are you listening, Poulsen (Director for Singapore Goal 2010 & National Team Manager)?

Soaring Magpies

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Last modified: March 16, 2003