Man on the spot: Singapore vs. Malaysia
The stage had been set and the swords were drawn. The ASEAN Championships Semi-Final 2nd Leg was a crackling affair, especially with the match-up of archrivals, Singapore and Malaysia at the Kallang National Stadium. The first leg at the Shah Alam stadium ended in a 1-1 draw between the two sides. The tension between the two sides had escalated very high since this very Malayan Peninsula derby will decide who will be playing in the finals.
It has not been easy getting the tickets for the match as all the grand stand tickets were quickly snapped up by the enthusiastic Singaporean fans. Nevertheless, I managed to get hold a gallery ticket bought for me by one of my friends. The journey to the National Stadium was not a smooth one as the roads were jammed up with cars leading to it.
I managed to get seated at the stadium at about 7.15 pm and since I was there early, I had the opportunity to get to see the players warm up. At that point of time, the stadium had already been a quarter filled, with more streams of Singaporeans still coming in. About 10 minutes later after I had seated, the Malaysian supporters entered the stadium and sat at an area not far from mine. Instantly, the Singaporeans at the National Stadium started jeering at their entrance.
At 8 pm, it was kick-off time with the National Stadium already been fully swarmed by a full-house 55 000 crowd. The first-half was filled mostly with the Singapore team laying siege against the Malaysians. They had also effectively limited the Malaysians’ chance at goal to once or twice only and forcing them to adopt a defensive stance. The goals only came in the second half with Malaysia taking the unexpected lead through Eddy Helmi. The Malaysian midfielder fired a shot towards Lionel Lewis and many expected it to be a routine save for the Singaporean goalkeeper. However, the shot spilled over and the Malaysian players ran off in jubilation to celebrate the goal. The Singaporean home crowd was stunned for a moment while the Malaysian fans were jumping excitingly and waving their national flags around.
From then on, there was an air of uneasiness within the home crowd as they watched their team making poor passes and decisions. At the 75th minute, the Singapore team took advantage of a disorganized Malaysian defense with Muhd Ridhuan nipping the ball past the goalkeeper. Now, it was Singapore’s time to celebrate. The home crowd erupted into cheers for the equalizer and they were hoping that another goal would come soon to ensure their place in the final.
After 90 minutes, the two sides were still level at 1-1 and thus, the match had to be extended with an extra time of 30 minutes. Throughout those 30 minutes, players from both sides were determined to score the winning goal and were not willing to back down although they were feeling tired. Precious came close in scoring that vital victory goal for Singapore when he rammed in a shot from outside the box but Malaysian goalkeeper Syamsuri was at the right place to make a fantastic save. Despite resolute efforts from the teams, the deadlock could not be broken and the match reaches its climax with the penalty shootout.
The penalty shootout is a Russian roulette game where even the best players could falter here. The players were already exhausted but they still need to gather one last ounce of strength to take the kick. Every player that comes up to take the kick has a heavy burden to carry as everything is at stake, especially in a highly charged match like this.
The penalties went on the way shortly after a 5-minute break for the players. Both Singapore and Malaysia managed to put their first 4 penalties to the back of the net with ease. Singapore’s 5th penalty taker, Shi Jiayi nearly gave the Singaporean home crowd a scare when his shot hit directly at Syamsuri. However, Syamsuri could not grab the ball as it was bounced off him into the net. The pressure is now on the Malaysian 5th penalty taker, Khyril Muhymeen, because if he misses, Malaysia would be out of the game. The home crowd knew this and they started jeering and stomping the ground to intimidate him psychologically. It seemed to work as Khyril placed a weak shot in which Lionel Lewis collects the ball with ease. The National Stadium once again erupted to cheers as the Singapore team celebrated their victory march to the finals. The Malaysian players slumped in disappointment but showed their appreciation by applauding their supporters for coming all the way to support them.
This match is certainly an interesting experience for me. A friend of mine commented that he had never seen such frenzied support from the fans in the National Stadium since the rivalry days of the Malaysia Cup in 1994. From where I was sitting, I could see that there were close calls of confrontation between the Malaysian and Singaporean fans. There were spewing of vulgarities and all sorts of catcalls. The Malaysians chanted “Malaysia Boleh!” to support their team while the Singaporean home crowd responded back by taunting “Malaysia Balik Kampung!” The only barrier between them was the Cisco policemen surrounding the away fans section.
At the end of the exciting and tense drama, the Singaporean home fans definitely go home as the happier side since their team is now in the finals. The Lions are now on route to win the ASEAN cup for the 3rd time with their final opponents being the Thais.
By: Stanley Lee
Photo courtesy of NYconneXions