Good for Singapore. It retained its Tiger Cup. They are champions of the Asean Championship 2007. But for much of the first half of the match played on Sunday, they didn't look like a championship side at all. Every time the Singapore team gained possession of the ball, they would lose it the next minute. No, wait, change that to next second. I thought, "Now what kind of championship side is this?" I have seen this all too often and I feel that Singapore soccer will never progress beyond this region. It got painful to watch as the match progressed and I thought if Singapore continued to play like that, it was only a matter of time that the Thai team wacked a ball into Singapore's goal, as it did eventually. I turned off my TV. I just couldn't bear to continue watching Singapore's tiger torn to shreds by an obviously revived Thai side.
As it turned out, Thailand faced one person it couldn't crack - Lionel Lewis and was floored by the fantastic individual effort of Khairul Amri. Singapore should play more like Khairul - get the ball, retain possession, and go for goal! Unfortunately, the Singapore team is still far far away from a great team. Do not forget that the scoreline for the second leg is 1-1 - hardly a convincing victory. After the euphoria has died down, it should reflect and re-evaluate upon this.
I don't hope ever to switch off the telly in the middle of a match between Singapore and its opponents.
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