The soccer state

The soccer industry in Singapore is in a state of disarray.

I'm writing this in response to that recent hoohah of Jalan Besar being turned into a blue Japanese stadium and my sense of nationalism decide to struck my writing guts.

Soccer is Singapore's national sport. We eat, breather and ever queue up (the other national sport) to earn a quick buck to sell to our nihongo (Jap) counterparts.

The local newspapers liken that we sold our souls for money.

This wasn't the case a decade back. Before the withdrawal of the Lions from the Malaysian league, Singaporeans had loads of fervour when we did the Kallang roar.

I know what it was like to roar with my country, I was part of it when my father brought me to stomp the grounds. I swear the whole stadium shook.

Nonetheless, that fervour seemed to dissipate with that withdrawal and S-League has reached slump-y results time and time again.

We just couldn't get back the original flavour of what it once was.

With goal 2010, we have set an unrealistic mark and by setting objectives along the way and not being able to achieve them, we are not supporting but just boo-ing our young lions on their underachievements.

Singaporeans have gotten disenchated with the most beautiful game in the world and that is a sad sad story.

I've loved soccer since its inception to my life, from kicking $1 coloured plastic balls to getting my first pair of soccer boots, you could say soccer was the part and parcel of my SG life.

When it comes down to watching soccer, I have to say I've been watching the infamous back 4 of the Gunners since the early 1990s till now.

As Singaporeans prefer quality over locality, our attentions switch to the "better choice" when cable TV came into the picture. The EPL was officially born in the minds of Singaporeans, live and loud.

I have to say this.

Stop comparing and stop judging what our Singaporean soccer team can do. It's better to have no expectations with no pressure. Just let them do their "thang" and whatever results they produce, we Singaporeans will be proud of them no matter what.

Let the talent flow, harness it, not set it to reach a benchmark.

Maybe then, the state of soccer in Singapore will flourish on the cable channels of Asia.

Written fantically,
Benjamin