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Sunday, Jan 28, 2007 - 01:38 SGT
Posted By: Gilbert

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Kallang Roar

Fifty-five thousand tickets for the Singapore vs Malaysia return leg sold out. What's this, a rerun of the Malaysia Cup days? As luck would have it, my dad had eight free grandstand tickets from a friend who had no use for them:


0001197 doing its job

Had a slap-up dinner at a coffeeshop with my family before the game, then made the long trek down to the West Entrance. Heard the cheers from way outside, which boded well for the atmosphere in the grand old dame (who according to tpk, will have her last secret event in March). Met up with law, who just had his wine appreciation course, there. The match was already under way when we entered, but apparently we didn't miss much.


Weak attempt at a panorama, but you get the idea

The spectators gave a good impression of the Red Sea, which only goes to show no matter the state of soccer here, there will always be takers against the auld enemy, whom were represented by the small yellow square roughly in the middle of the above photo. Good for them that the average Singaporean fan isn't known for hooliganism. Heck, the security detail even confiscated my waterbottle.

First half went by goalless, though the crowd got in some energetic cheering and several Kallang Waves - the pre-wave stomping reminded me of the good old TCHS days when we did our rendition of Rock You while in the grandstand by virtue of being Track and Field champs. Then horror of horrors, Lionel Lewis fluffed a tame strike by Eddy Helmi Manan. True, it did bounce right in front of him, but that's little excuse.


Paul Robinson: Trust me, I know how you feel

That woke the Lions up (why does it always have to take conceding a goal?), and about fifteen minutes later a rather chaotic scene at the other end saw some guy in blue rushing in to bulge the net. The crowd went absolutely wild, and I didn't even manage to catch the goalscorer's name when it was announced a minute later (it was Muhammad Ridhuan).


Hopefully there will be instant replay screens at the new stadium

It went to penalties, helped by the opposition goalie being flat on the ground in the last minutes of extra time. Perhaps he felt that his side had a better chance in the spot-kick lottery? I realised then how nerve-wracking it could be to take the responsibility in front of tens of thousands of screaming fans, whether they are for or against you. The first four kicks for each side were duly converted, though there was an instant's scare when one of the Singaporean shots was partially blocked, but not quite enough. Shi Jiayi, who was perhaps the most hardworking Lion on the pitch, then made Singapore's fifth.

It was down to Malaysia's Khyril Muhymeen to score to keep his side afloat. Choruses of boos rang about the stadium, part and parcel of being away, and there was a great spontaneous stomping of feet. You could feel the stadium move. The poor guy hit it straight and weakly, and Lionel Lewis didn't pass that up. Felt kind of sorry for the Malaysian player as he collapsed to the ground, but hey, he can't be expecting sympathy. Better luck next time.


Bad focusing technique masquerading as artistic expression

So the Lions somehow get through to another Tiger Cup/ASEAN Championship final without beating a single opponent of note (yes, a 11-0 against minnows Laos, but 0-0 vs Vietnam, 2-2 vs Indonesia and two 1-1s against Malaysia). Given that Thailand have a 2-0 lead from their away leg against Vietnam, it's safe to say they have one foot in the final, and there will probably be no new winner this time. Could it be Singapore? Well, seeing as how they have got themselves of tight spots so far, why not?

I'll skip my $100 Challenge total update this time round.

$100 on Man U (-1.5) vs Portsmouth in the FA Cup (at 1.73) - No wasting time.



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Next: The Winds Of Jurong


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