Jakarta: Singapore hardly worked up a sweat on Friday during their 5-0 romp over Cambodia in the opening match of the Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup.
I see that both Baihakki Khaizan & Precious Emuejeraye have admitted that their height & size make them cumbersome defenders, who are afraid of being made to back-pedal, as there is a high chance of them falling over. I guess all their opponents at the AFF Suzuki Cup have taken note.
S'pore breezed past a robust & unsporting Myanmar 3-1 in the AFF Suzuki Cup. Noh Alam Shah headed the Lions in front in the 1st minute & Agu Casmir gave us breathing space with a piledriver from the edge of the penalty-area. Unfortunately, the speedy Myo Min Tun reduced the deficit by outpacing our cumbersome central defensive partnership of Baihakki Khaizan & Precious Emuejeraye, though Noh Rahman was the most culpable defender.
In the 2nd half, S'pore took a quick free-kick, which the Myanmar defence & goalie reacted to, but were caught somewhat off-guard. Agu Casmir took advantage to make it 3-1 in a perfectly legal move.
However, the Myanmar goalie sprinted half the length of the field to shove the referee in the back. The official was manhandled by another 2 or 3 other Myanmar players, so it was a wonder that only the keeper was sent off. Myanmar then staged a mass walkout in unsporting protest. Well, the AFF disciplinary committee set the precedent 2 years ago by not punishing Thailand for their walkout against S'pore. It remains to be seen if the AFF have the guts to send a strong signal to Myanmar, by kicking them out of this competition, banning them for the next one & giving them a hefty fine for not controlling their players.
Myanmar then resorted to dangerous tackles from behind to vent their frustrations on the S'pore players. The referee, apparently trying to appease the Myanmarese, gave S'pore an additional yellow card, to add to 2 earlier ones, while only showing 1 to Myanmar, even as they sought to maim our Lions in an unsporting attempt to get even.
If Myanmar cannot keep within the rules of the game, & resort to violence when the chips are down, then I say the AFF must send a strong signal by kicking them out of the Suzuki Cup.
If and when the FAS wishes to go for some of the better football players to turn out for our national team, then we must be willing to pay huge money to get at least a dozen of the world's best players to play for us or we should stop dreaming.
What is the point of getting players from Croatia or China who are not even good enough to make their national teams?
We certainly have the money but it's not part of the budget of FAS. It is as simple as this. We should stop dreaming of making the World Cup.
Myanmars' players are indeed not very sporting. I still remember a semi-final Tiger Cup match some years ago (can't remember which Tiger Cup edition) between Singapore and Myanmar. Their players were bahaving like hooligans.
yes, u r rite that they cannot keep within the rules of the game. They should instead follow the example of Singapore. Legally 'cheat' by importing foreigners to win for us!!! Not sportingly fair but strictly legal.
Yes, I was there watching that match. I recall that towards the end of the match, many supporters of the Lions could not control themselves and ended up throwing mineral water bottles at the Myanmar players.
oh yea? myanmar was busy looking @ shi jia yi while singapore didnt care much.. oh ya ..btw..i've nvr seen a freekick outside the penalty box without a wall..only a non-soccer fan would not have noticed tat..do we need to even request tat fundamental wall? oh ya..to me the refree was a disgrace..
almost every AFF match that involves SG has a problem..tats funny..SG has divng problem too.. United World 3 : 1 Myanmar :D
December 07, 2008 Sunday, 04:35 AM
