Alas, the first loss under Raddy's charge in the Suzuki Cup shows that foreign talents do not necessarily bring home the most coveted trophy of this region.
The line up was as follows:
Singapore: Lionel Lewis, Baikhakki, Noh Rahman(Ismail), Ridhuan, Shahril Ishak(shaiful), Noh Alam Shah
Foreign: Precious, Bennett, Mustafic, Shi Jiayi, Agu Casmir(Indra)
This time around, more Singaporeans were in the starting lineup, owing to the fact that John Wilkinson is injured. Nevertheless, Shahril Ishak played very well on the left flanks bearing in mind this was his first start in the competition. A round of applause to Singapore's sprinter Md Ridhuan as well. I think he was fantastic tonight. His runs were well timed and his crosses were accurate. As for Alam Shah, he was Singapore's mascot, the Lion. Always chasing for the ball and trying desperately to win 50-50 balls for singapore. Baihakki and Noh Rahman were great at the back, lest the lapse in concentration by Baihakki which led to the goal. Lionel Lewis had nothing to do at all the whole game except for the time he had to pick the ball out of his own net.
True enough, the goal was a mistake by the right sided players and the defence who were flat at the back. Ismail Yunos who just came in wasn't conditioned yet to the fast paced game and true enough, he was beaten by L C Vinh. Bennett tried to prevent the goal but to no avail.
As for the foreign talents, I felt that Bennett had a good game. He played well on the left flank. However, the same could not be said for Precious. At times, his positioning and his anticipation of the ball were rubbish.Mustafic was not his usual self. He couldn't control the midfield like in the previous games. Shi Jiayi was at best mediocre tonight, except for his shot which the keeper had to parry. Agu was RUBBISH tonight, which made me wonder why he wasn't substituted during half time.
Yes i know it's unfair to start blaming the foreign talents when we lost. As you can see, they played well during the group stages. Therefore, why am I still proposing Singapore to make use of born and bred Singaporeans? the reason is simple, you can see the hunger in their play. yes mustafic had a header punched away by the keeper and shi jiayi's crosses were fantastic. but for much of the game, can you really see the difference between the two teams? Vietnam playeers put their heart into every run, every tackle, every jump. For me, you can only see the hunger in the Singaporeans. yes shi jiayi was yellow carded for the high leg raise, but he could just head the ball, why use his leg?
I know i've been beating around the bush. The point I want to make is the Vietnamese players know that they are playing for pride. Singapore meanwhile, plays because they are the champions and think they can win. Not that the foreign talents are to blame for the loss. It's just that, when you have foreign talents in the team, you are expected to be better than the the locals. And with the best bunch of locals playing together with the foreign talent,Singapore are expected to flourish. This was not the case tonight.
To sum it all up, let the locals play. Even if we lose, at least we know the standard of Singapore soccer.
