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I too, can blog a soccer tale!
It was a nightmare. Humiliation further rubbed into the wounds like salt. It was the Tiger Cup 2002, the most prestigious soccer tournament in the South-East-Asian region. Just like the world cup of SEA nations, it was always a great team to be able to win it. A tournament for all of us from the minnows nations to be excited about: this is the chance to gain international honour. Especially now that the SEA Games has put in age restrictions to it's participants, the Tiger Cup has beame the only chance for the very best of the region to showcase their skills.
Singapore is always a nation that has always been proud of what it achieves. The pride that lies in us is tremendous. However, it was destroyed in a single tournament...or at least our soccer pride. We have always watch Spurs fans cried after a loss to Arsenal...or en Evertonian fan hiding his face in his hands after a hiding from Liverpool, and sympathsises with them, for it symbolises a lost war between 2 closest rivals, derbies they call it. Put the 2 things together: pride plus lost pride, and you'll get an angry reaction.
On a fateful night in December, Singapore played host to it's greatest rivals, Malaysia in the first match of the 2002 Tiger Cup. What we got was...no less a messacre, a total knock out, and a humilation to our undenying pride. For we,as a favourites before the tournament, got a shock 4-0 bashing from our younger, but hungrier neighbours(rivals). So what if we have a Wrexham player in Daniel Bennett, a Brazilian in Egmar Concalves? We were out-classed by Malaysia, the way Arsenal will out-class Leyton Orient.
The Singapore team were supposed to be the superior of the two. We've got a professional soocer league here for 6 years already. We've got 2 foriegn players who have shown they were top class players in our league. We've got home ground support, and again, an unassailable pride, that made us seemed really impossible to go down. On paper. What happened next was this: a paltry 100-men Malaysia entrouge left the stadium cheering and celebrating a famous win over their deadliest rivals. The other 40,000 of the people, mostly in bright red shirt to set up a beautiful backdrop earlier, left with faces as red as their shirt.
I could hardly imagine how much an impact it's going to have on the people here...the young aspiring footballers, and their parents. The future looks bleak for Singapore football, and dare I ask you, will you still let your kids go on their path to pursuing a footballing career? And how much motivation will an aspiring footballer have to carry on chasing their dream?
To me, it not only destroyed the pride of a nation, but dreams of thousands of sprouting careers. Coming to the end, I really wondered if the players donning the jerseys ever thought about all those and fight with all their might? I hope they had...but from the results and performances from the Tiger Cup, it looks like they haven't...
Hmph~Li hai ma?
.
Lol.
That was like 2 years ago,no?
Jason did it.
;p
Singapore is always a nation that has always been proud of what it achieves. The pride that lies in us is tremendous. However, it was destroyed in a single tournament...or at least our soccer pride. We have always watch Spurs fans cried after a loss to Arsenal...or en Evertonian fan hiding his face in his hands after a hiding from Liverpool, and sympathsises with them, for it symbolises a lost war between 2 closest rivals, derbies they call it. Put the 2 things together: pride plus lost pride, and you'll get an angry reaction.
On a fateful night in December, Singapore played host to it's greatest rivals, Malaysia in the first match of the 2002 Tiger Cup. What we got was...no less a messacre, a total knock out, and a humilation to our undenying pride. For we,as a favourites before the tournament, got a shock 4-0 bashing from our younger, but hungrier neighbours(rivals). So what if we have a Wrexham player in Daniel Bennett, a Brazilian in Egmar Concalves? We were out-classed by Malaysia, the way Arsenal will out-class Leyton Orient.
The Singapore team were supposed to be the superior of the two. We've got a professional soocer league here for 6 years already. We've got 2 foriegn players who have shown they were top class players in our league. We've got home ground support, and again, an unassailable pride, that made us seemed really impossible to go down. On paper. What happened next was this: a paltry 100-men Malaysia entrouge left the stadium cheering and celebrating a famous win over their deadliest rivals. The other 40,000 of the people, mostly in bright red shirt to set up a beautiful backdrop earlier, left with faces as red as their shirt.
I could hardly imagine how much an impact it's going to have on the people here...the young aspiring footballers, and their parents. The future looks bleak for Singapore football, and dare I ask you, will you still let your kids go on their path to pursuing a footballing career? And how much motivation will an aspiring footballer have to carry on chasing their dream?
To me, it not only destroyed the pride of a nation, but dreams of thousands of sprouting careers. Coming to the end, I really wondered if the players donning the jerseys ever thought about all those and fight with all their might? I hope they had...but from the results and performances from the Tiger Cup, it looks like they haven't...
Hmph~Li hai ma?
.
Lol.
That was like 2 years ago,no?
Jason did it.
;p
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