Vietnamese fans show Singaporeans how to cheer in second leg semi-final ASEAN Football Championship game
By Les Tan. Photos by Lai Jun Wei.
The Singaporean slang had clearly rubbed off on these Vietnamese supporters with their tongue-in-cheek slogan of “Vietnam can, Singapore cannot”. It proved prophetically true. (Photo 1 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
National Stadium, Sunday, December 21, 2008 – Despite being outnumbered, the small contingent of 5,000 Vietnamese fans showed Singaporeans what supporting a national team was all about with vociferous chanting and cheering throughout the game.
That’s what happened last night in the second leg semi-final between Singapore and Vietnam in the ASEAN Football Championship (AFF Suzuki Cup). Vietnam won 1-0 in front of a near-capacity crowd of 48,000 and exposed the lack of squad depth in a Singapore team depleted by injuries to first-team players.
When the Vietnamese scored their only goal in the 74th minute from their one and only shot in the entire 90 minutes, the Singapore crowd went limp like a punctured balloon, their arrogant swearing in unison reduced to muttered curses that disappeared meaninglessly into the night sky.
For the Vietnamese fans who endured the endless taunting throughout the night from people who can’t be called fans but a mob, it was schadenfreude, a moment of pleasure at Singapore’s expense, when Nguyen Quang Hai stabbed the ball home after exposing the out of position Baihakki Khaizan and Precious Emuejeraye in the 74th minute.
The Vietnamese sang and cheered in such voice as to belie their numbers. When the announcer asked spectators to stand for the Vietnamese anthem, Singaporeans rudely booed, one in front of the media box even idiotic enough to raise his hand in a mock Nazi salute.
The Vietnamese sang their national anthem loud and clear and while there was a moment of trepidation that Singaporeans would not match that, sunshine broke through briefly as Singaporeans impressed with a rendition of Majulah Singapura not heard usually at public events.
However, the local Singapore mob resumed normal service during the game. While the Vietnamese cheered very well, the Singaporeans could only swear very well.
Egged on by the air horn signal, Singaporeans would respond with a Malay swear word on cue and did so no less than 12 times.
The contrast was all the more stark and embarrassing as the Vietnamese sang and chanted positive encouragement to their team.
If the Vietnamese team were relying on their supporters as the twelfth man, they were not disappointed.
With the bitter loss stirring darker emotions, some Singapore fans attacked Vietnamese supporters after the game, showing again that stupidity is a disease best spread by the local football mob.
The Vietnamese won not only on the pitch, but off the pitch as well.
A Singapore fan expresses his support for coach Raddy Avramovic. (Photo 2 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
The relatively small contingent of Vietnamese supporters were dominating throughout the game in terms of vocals. (Photo 3 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
The supporters of Singapore were also commendable in pockets, though they were more often than not echoing swear words. (Photo 4 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Noh Alam Shah (Singapore, #8) tries to go around Le Phuoc Tu (Vietnam, #4). (Photo 5 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Agu Casmir (Singapore, #11) lets loose a shot. (Photo 6 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Noh Alam Shah tries to keep the ball in play. (Photo 7 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Muhammad Ridhuan (Singapore, #2) goes up for a header with his Vietnamese opponent. (Photo 8 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Daniel Bennett (Singapore, #16) passes the ball out to a teammate. (Photo 9 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Shahril Ishak (Singapore, #17) runs down the flank unchallenged. (Photo 10 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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ABOUT THIS AUTHOR
@ lionsfan:
You don’t understand the meaning of the word ‘cheer’ then.
To cheer means to shout encouragement, to shout for joy.
The use of the Malay swear word does not constitute encouragement or joy.
A swear word is not a cheer.
@lionsfanNO1: to write “the butoh cheer is a classic” is an oxymoron. A swear word is not a cheer. A swear word is a swear word. Nothing more.
A lion? No. More like a hyena, not worthy of respect.
you guys have no pride… be a true supporter and quit whining. A football game is where you let all your emotions regardless by swearing or by simply showing the finger. Cmon the butoh cheer is a classic. Are you a true lion?
the swearing was our cheer, its some what good to shut the visitors up.I was a the stadium that night and was last year in the semi’s too, the atmosphere was exactly the same. the flag burning did go overbored but the swearing as cheers is perfectly normal
@mourinho
The culture of supporting our team is quite weak.
We don’t sing good songs, or chant nice cheers.
It will take generations, if ever, to have the kind of spectator culture you would not be embarrassed to bring your foreign friends to.
In fact, my friend and I decided not to bring our young children (under 10) to the football game because we decided we didn’t want to spend out time explaining to our sons what ‘butoh’ means time and time again.
It’s not like I am insulating my children of course. I’ve had to explain words like “f**k”, “c*** b**” and all the assorted swear words in our national vocabularly thanks to the school bus.
But no need to bring them to a football game to see that thousands will shout a Malay swear word together like they are singing christmas carols.
I agree wholeheartedly with this article.
Singaporeans, especially the younger ones, the gen-y or z, are a spoilt lot, and also arrogant bunch. Not just in football, go overseas and you will recognise a sinkee immediately with his/her endless condemnation of others. Surprisingly they also have no pride in their own country.
That night, i was sitting very close to the vietnamese supporters, behind the goal which Vietnam scored. Yes, I can hear all the positive songs and chants from them. Singaporeans could only reply with their typical swear word.
Interestingly, when the Vietnamese goal went in, many so called Sg supporters started to leave. Joke. Some malay boys who were singing Majulah Sg loudly before the match said to leave in order to beat the jam, need to catch arsenal vs liverpool.
Times have changed. Back in the good old days, we go to Kallang as fans, to support the team. Now, you get fairweathered supporters who only go to stadium to criticise and talk like they are experts, talk as if they are andy gray, richard keys, or even nearer home, Shebby Singh.
Hi Singapore Sports Fan,
The guy was sitting just outside the media box right in front of me at the 55-foot level.
Agree about the fairweather support some give. Pity.
Thanks, Mayhem.
les
The article says the Nazi salute guy was in front of the media box, not inside.
Someone I know wrote that he/she wasted his/her time watching Singapore at the National Stadium last night.
Which I thought showed how stupid he/she was to make that remark. I mean, what sort of Singapore fan are you if you consider all Singapore defeats a waste of time? What sort of fan are you if you can’t stick with the Lions through thick and thin.
My answer: the sort of bandwagon fan that we can truly do without.
Sure, sometimes the Lions are excruciatingly painful to watch, although thankfully such occasions are getting rare these days. But even then, these occasions should never be described as a waste of time.
Finally, I was quite disgusted to read about the twit who did the Nazi salute in the media box during the singing of the Vietnamese national athemn. Shame on him!
Do a favour, Les? Drop me a line to let me know who it is? I sincerely hope it’s not one of our friends from the mainstream media because that is such a stupid piece of behaviour.
Having said that, the media box is packed these days with many strange and unfamiliar faces – chaps who are brimming with self-importance and who clearly enjoy making a lot of noisy idle chatter during the game so as to draw attention to themselves.
Thanks Victor.
@BoHeng – I agree with you that Vietnam played well over two legs and deserve to qualify, difficult as it is for me to admit as a Singaporean.
Most Singaporeans are ignorant and will not learn from such an event, on and off the pitch they appears to be proud yet from the fans they dont have the ability to express their support, and from the players they dont have the ability to play proper football. Singapore played in a manner too afraid to lose, just look at the Vietnamese, they play soccer, good football. I guess too much shouting from the coaches just does not help.
A very truthful and well-observed report!