Singapore - Champions 1998, 2004, 2007..

yes, you might already have heard or watched.. Singapore have been crowned AFC champions for the third time after a 1-1 draw in Bangkok and a 3-2 aggregate win over Thailand.

Funnily enough, over this weekend, a number of people have come up to me and asked why am I not in Bangkok for the second leg.. i got so siao meh? actually, if i could, i would have wanted to be there..

Singapore played badly. Didn't deserve to win. There were moments where the Lions threatened and bossed the game.. but those were very much the minority. The Thais were given time and space to pass the ball just outside of the Singapore penalty box.. And for that.. the Lions got punished. Aide was caught out.. not the first time in this whole tournament.. Thonkaya got behind the defence and muay-thai kicked the ball in for the lead.. as much as this tournament is Subramani's last, i think it's time Aide step down and let Baihakki take over and build an understanding with Precious..

The Thais apart from threatening the goal with mazy runs down the flanks, were reduced to long shots which rarely troubled Lionel Lewis.. Lionel did well on a number of occasions to save the Lions.. and when he wasn't there.. Noh Rahman cleared off the line.. if Thailand had scored and gone 2 nil up then they'd probably have won it.

Other than that.. the Thais continued their Hollywood auditions, going down at the slightest touch from a Lion. They, especially the no.19 and Datsakorn, were just further dragging the Thai brand down the drain, especially after the furore of the past week. Datsakorn, hailed as the playmaker, was disappointing. When decisions didn't go his or his team's way, he started acting stupid again. Just like in midweek. He rightly earned a yellow card by kicking the ball at Noh Rahman.. and should have earned a straight red when he attempted to headbutt Khairul Amri.

I think the only Thai who made sense was team manager Thavatchai. His sensible comments "i think Singapore deserved to win. Football is like this. You win them all" certainly helped to redeem the nosediving Thai reputation and sought to reassure the world that the people from the Land of Smiles are not all childish, irreverant of officialdom, petty kids.

This brings me to my next grouse - another weak referee.. he didn't stamp his authority in the game on many occasions. And i'm not even mentioning the goal he disallowed earlier which should have stood! that would have made watching the game easier.. When are we going to see a good strong one from this region.. I'm sure Shamsul Maideen would have been selected had Singapore not made the final.. what to do.. best ref.. best team.

Second half and Thailand were still 1 nil up. Not that their fans were enthused by it.. Their Mexican wave was nothing compared to the superior Kallang Wave. I was predicting a late goal by Singapore.. and right on cue in the 81st minute.. the ball broke to Khairul Amri who carried the ball forward.. the Thais backed off and backed off.. inviting Khairul towards their goal. Sorry man..

Khairul decided to go for it.. and boy did he GO for it.. arching his body forward to keep the ball low, Khairul stretched every sinew in his right leg back and with one swing of the boot.. slammed the ball past a rooted Kittisak and into goal. I went crazy again.. I initially thought it went out.. but then saw the net bulged and the ref signalling a goal.. i felt Khairul justified his donning of a pair of YELLOW boots with that shot. One all.. singapore wound time down and then the ref blew for full time and with that, crowned Singapore champions once more.

I think overall, the Lions' play has improved though they are guilty of going to sleep and at times self-destructing. Apart from that, we have shown that we can handle big and rowdy crowds, big match tensions and also the ability to come back from one goal down to equalise on many occasions. well building a football team takes time and playing experience, so i applaud the FAS for sending the team to tournaments.. and Raddy for drilling into them belief in themselves. Playing China, Iraq and Japan over the years has proved vital to the progress of the Singapore national team.

So the Lions then went on to lift the trophy in front of a near empty Suphachalasai stadium, with Noh Alam Shah bagging 2 individual awards. One i'm sure was for Top Scorer.. maybe the other was for MVP.. Singapore poster boy Indra received a yellow for his protesting efforts on the bench when Datsakorn headbutted Khairul.. :P whatever lah..

ASEAN FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP CUP
CHAMPIONS 2007: SINGAPORE

C'MON LIONS!!