Singapore Soccer

I hate to say this but Thailand have won their 8th consecutive gold medal in soccer for the SEA games. Stoopid Zhaoyuan!!hahah. Singapore didnt fare too badly either clinching a bronze medal. I think its their first medal for a long time. But i must concede that the Thai team were the best and deservedly won the gold.In particular, Teereatap Winothai caught my eye. Hes like lightning quick. The Thai soccer team has always been the kingpins of Southeast asia. Ive always like to see them play. Espeacially in the 1990s and early 2000s. Some of my favourite players are Natipong Stri Tong In. Dusit Chalermsan at left back is so classy. Surachai Jaturaparatapong (im sure i gt the spelling WRONG) used to patrol the midfield like nobody business. And when he retires, theres Therdsak Chaiman, to be the midfield enforcer. Tawan Sripan, the creative force. And last bt not least, in fact hes the greatest of them all, the legend, Kiatisuk Zico Senemuang. I guess everyone adores him in Thailand.

But recently Singapore have taken over the reign as the King of Southeastasia football by winning two consecutive Tiger Cup or now known as the Asean championship. Ive been watching Singapore play since i was a small boy. Been with them through the ups and down. Some of the great memories are winning the Malaysia Cup in 1994. If i remember correctly we won 4-0 in the final against Pahang after beating Selangor in the semis. Boy, im an old man to be talking bout Malaysia cup. In 1998, we won the Tiger Cup by beating Vietnam 1-0 in the final with Sasikumar scoring the 'shoulder blade of god'. That was sweet too. I remember us beating Indon in the semis. This after Indon and Thai disgraced themselves by purposely trying to lose to avoid playing the home team, Vietnam in the semis. But only recently, like 2 years ago i started to really catch the matches at the stadium. In 2005, we won the Asean Cup. I think i catch almost all the matches except the final due to unavaibality of the tickets. The semifinal against Myanmar was the most etched in my memory as the Myanmar player lose their cool. In fact there were fights in the stands too. Missiles were flying everywhere. And more recently, we won the 2007 Asean Championship by beating Thailand in the final. The semifinal against Malaysia must be the most sweetest and priceless memories i have for Singapore soccer. There was no way we were going to lose to Malaysia at the Kallang Stadium, the fortress. The match had to be decided by penalties which made it even more nerve wrecking. But we eventually triumphed. I still remember when the last Malaysian penalty was saved by the Singapore custodian, Lionel Lewis, all of us just went wild. That feeling was just priceless. Im just glad to be there with about 50 000 other Singaporeans and 1 Malaysian...lol.... Everyone just jumped and even hug each other.

I think the future of Singapore looks quite bright. The under 23 team played quite well. The S-league is showing its dividends. Now lets go to 2010. Bring on Saudi, Lebanon and Uzbek!!!!!!!!!!!!!!