Hoping for Redemption

Hoping for Redemption
AFF Suzuki Cup - Singapore National Football Team
by editor Wong Yang and assistant editor Oliver Gui

The AFF Suzuki Cup is here again, and with it brings the nightmarish memories of the 2010 tournament. 2010 brought the Lions to an all-time low FIFA World Ranking, while fans questioned the commitment of the national team and their hunger for success.

In a poll conducted by Yahoo! Singapore, 59% of the 1658 respondents believed that Singapore would not be able to get pass the group stage, while 24% felt that they could only reach the semi-finals. The poll reflected the lost faith that the public have in the Lions after the poor performances. With younger fans ignoring Singapore football and turning instead to the EPL and La Liga, the national team is now generally seen as "just another Singapore national sports team that can't win anything". Here at FootballMania, we still stand behind the national team, for it is our football team, and we hope that our Singaporean readers will too.


The Lions begin their campaign at the Bukit Jalil Stadium, against a Malaysian side that triumphantly claimed the 2010 title when all we could do was to watch on miserably. The rivalry is not just between the national teams of both sides, but between the fans and each nation's people. The football rivalry is a microcosm of the overall competition that the neighbours have fostered between one another ever since separation in 1965. Economical competition and political differences, have caused the relationship between Singapore and Malaysia to be extremely shaky. This rivalry grew all the more intense when Malaysian fans defaced the Singapore flag after the Tigers lost 5-3 to the Lions. More recently, Malaysian fans were accused of turning around to show their backs when the Singapore National Anthem was being played before the first leg of a friendly between the two teams. Outside the stadium, fans from both sides clashed in a "street fight" as described by a witness. Hatred between both of sides makes this meeting even more "El Clasico"-like.

The glory days of 2007

Raddy Avramovic, the man who delivered the 2004 and 2007 AFF Cups to Singapore, will hope to end his nine-year position as the coach of the national team on a good note. His contract expires at the end of the year, and this tournament will ascertain his position in the hearts of Singapore football fans. Is he the respected patriarch of Singapore football, or the man who has destroyed the Kallang Roar? Win or lose, he is the man who has brought out the best in Singapore footballers, the man who made me smile when I sat in the stands of the former National Stadium, watching Singapore defeat Malaysia on penalties in the semi-finals of the 2007 Cup.

The Lions walk on this road to redemption, faced with tough opponents like Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Phillipines. Even then, walk on with hope they will, for the scars of 2010 can only be healed by walking on.