9Tuesday, January 30, 2007
The Kallang faithful. Credit must go to me and Neck for purchasing tickets at Toa Payoh stadium a few days beforehand. Tip for you guys if you all plan to watch the final on Wednesday: Get your tickets now! Neck being the smartass sportsman had already purchased a stack of 25 tickets for Wednesday, and his shrewd business mind have sprung into action yet again as he foresee these tickets can sell for more than twice the price in the black market. Me and George enjoying the wonderful atmosphere at Kallang while Neck is deeply engrossed in the drama as it unfolds. Him being the sportsman that he is is analysing how he can run as fast as Mohd Ridhwan. Actually not much analysis is needed, the answer is simple. LOSE WEIGHT! The famous Kallang wave. We, the Kallang faithful never gave up despite our team being 1-0 down. Our unwavering support did indeed bear fruits when Singapore equalised. On the left, us celebrating either after the goal or after Lewis saved the shot. On the right, Lionel Lewis turned from villian to hero when he saved the final spot kick.
Now that I'm at the ripe old age of 21, I shall write not about trivial matters like Neck spending more than $20 at the Taka food court. As the closest competitor to Xiaxue's title of Best Blogger in Singapore, 1 of my resolutions for my 21st birthday is to write more about important issues regarding national and international matters.
I shall start off this brand new era by talking about Singapore football, and of course with regards to the match last Saturday, with century-old rivals Malaysia.
Singapore football have recently been on the rise and I feel that much credit must go to coach Raddy. The results have shown and the fans have also acknowledged this and arrived at the National Stadium in droves for our match against deadly rivals Malaysia.
Our arrival at the stadium at almost 7 meant that the crowd was already there and we had to settle for the seats near the corner of the grandstand. I shall elaborate more on this with photos of Saturday.
The National Stadium on Saturday. Never before had the stadium been filled right to the brim since the Tiger Cup final in Jan 05 and also the Malaysia Cup days. Our recent trip to the stadium for the Singapore Cup final between Tampines Rovers and Thai Chomburi had just half the attendance as compared to Saturday. The Kallang fever is back.
The proudest moment for any footballer. The singing of the national anthem. While I doubt the likes of Precious and Shi Jiayi probably know nuts about singing the anthem, I must say that they performed admirably on Saturday. At least the Foreign Talent Scheme is actually bearing fruit. Shi Jiayi in particular impressed the most for me as he has really that keen eye for the killer pass and his contributions from midfield is indeed important to our team's victory on Saturday.
Lum Kor scratching his head as to how Lionel Lewis could have conceded that goal. Me too, was pondering how he could have let the ball rolled into the net. I think even I would have managed to keep the ball out of goal.
As we exit the stadium, the noise level was deafening as cries of "Ole,ole ole" rang around. Football fever is back in Singapore.
And we will be there again on Wednesday. Roar on Lions!
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