Only 6,188 fans show up for important Asian Cup football qualifier

By Les Tan and REDintern Alan Chiang. Pictures by Lai Jun Wei, Vanessa Lim and Marvin Tang.

Only 6,188 fans showed up to watch Singapore beat Jordan 2-1 in their crucial Asian Cup qualifying game last night.

This was in stark contrast to the 48,000 fans that showed up last December 08 at the National Stadium for the semi-final against Vietnam in the ASEAN Football Championship (Suzuki Cup).

After their 0-6 loss to Iran in their opening qualifying game, a second loss against Jordan would have certainly meant the end of their 2011 Asian Cup campaign.

National football coach Raddy Avramovic had said as much before the game.

“Qualification is still possible with this team. But we must beat Jordan. It will be impossible to qualify if we lose.”

However, the importance of this game seemed lost to most fans but some die-hard fans understood.

Eric Tay, 21, a full-time national serviceman, took time off to watch the game.

"Singapore has to win this to keep their (AFC Asian Cup) hopes alive,” he said before the game. “Furthermore, I foresee that Iran will qualify as winner for this group stage. Singapore needs crucial wins to clinch that second spot."

The top two in the group of four comprising Iran, Singapore, Jordan and Thailand will qualify for the 2011 Asian Cup.

Mardina, 22, a Noh Alam Shah fan, said, "Singapore still has a long way to go. But I believe my favourite player (Noh Alam Shah) can put in vital goals for Singapore in this competition."

She was rewarded for her faith when Alam Shah scored the winner in the second half for his 31st goal in national colours.

Jordanian fan, Saleh, 34, visiting Singapore for the first time, was hoping that his team would topple Singapore. "Singapore is a safe country. There are a lot of nice people and they are very cooperative."

Unfortunately, the Lions weren’t so charitable on the pitch and condemned Jordan to the bottom of Group E with the victory.

The 0-6 loss to Iran must have led some fans to discount the chances of the Lions. A Wednesday night, weekday game starting at 7.30pm didn’t help either.

Singapore football fans are also notorious for showing up only when they think the team has a serious chance of winning. The Lions were expected to beat Vietnam in the semi-finals of the ASEAN Football Championship and so fans turned up in droves.

The large turnout for the home game against Vietnam does suggests however that Singapore fans crave regular international football games with the scattered fixtures of World Cup and Asian Cup qualification too far apart to generate any excitement. The next home game for Singapore in the Asian Cup qualifiers is in November 2009, a good 10 months away.

Singapore now lie second in the group after Iran with the top two qualifying for the Asian Cup in 2011. If Singapore does qualify, it will rank as a major achievement, making Singapore a top-16 Asian nation.

Unfortunately, only 6,188 fans understood this. © Red Sports