Tuesday, July 03, 2007
just had a rather fruitful and a typically kecoh msn convo with fellow kallangroar members. they were discussing about our Singapore national team (NT) following their performance against Australia. sure, we lost 0-3, but i have never been so proud of the Lions, and it's not because they played on Kallang's last night. (i'll set aside a post specially for The National Stadium aka Kallang aka Grand Old Lady)
our Lions played with grit and determination. Indra Sahdan was very unlucky to be denied 2 goals by Schwarzer and the post. Khairul Amri nearly drilled one home for us but again, denied by the post. Bennet was one of the outstanding defenders in the squad, clearing the ball away everytime possible. Hariss Harun played quite ok, but i know he's capable of better stuff. Lionel Lewis did quite ok at the post, making saves after saves but unfortunately letting in those 3 goals. but anywho. Jia Yi played quite well, always stringing the right passes most of the time. but one thing's for certain: the midfield sorely missed Mustafic after he was stretchered out mid-game. after that, aussie just find space to blast in the goals.
but hey, mustafic's injury is not to be blamed. harry kewell made the obvious impact. y'know, i've always doubted the fella, always thought he was a show-pony who's not worth every penny of his Liverpool wages. but he proved me wrong. he came on and left such an impact, australia could thank him for being able to win 3-0.
and ehem.. some of our younger players could do with a bit more focus and improvement in their overall games. read: the likes of shahril ishak, ridhuan muhd, fazrul nawaz.
so anyway, back to the kallangroar conference. we came up with this conclusion: our NT needs to: improve their stamina, improve their fitness, really improve our defence (we can't forever rely on bennet.. he's great, but the once-potential players like baihakki.. please step up on your game), gel more as a team, be able to make the most of their chances i.e. convert them and score, stay focused and determined, listen to Raddy. ok, fine, the last part wasn't in the convo, but i think it's important the players do that. last time they didn't do that, they screwed up big time and exited the SEA Games 2 years ago before it even started. let's not see that repeated again.
and woodlands only lost 2-3 to Oman in a friendly just now. fyi, i am not crazy cos i'm happy about the scoreline. that means our clubs have improved somehow. last time we got thrashed 7-0 by Oman. see the huge difference? and woodlands only lost by 1 goal.
also, the SG U-23 drew 0-0 with the Australian reserves. i was elated to hear that. in a way, our reserves are better than their reserves. or equal to them (:
you know, i'm really hoping that FAS will step up on their efforts to relive the footballing scene in singapore. let's scout, groom, and polish our current players and future talents so we can call them our footballing greats alongside Fandi Ahmad, Dollah Kassim and the Malaysian Cup Heroes of the 1970s!
12:20 am
