By Les Tan/Red Sports
Does this look like 12,000 spectators to you? (Photo 1 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
National Stadium, August 13, 2009 – Singapore held China to a 1-1 draw and lost a meaningless penalty shootout 3-2 but some of the talking points came from the terraces.
The official crowd figure was 12,820, but the National Stadium, being the cavernous monster it is, made the crowd look half that number. Chinese supporters were also out in strong enough numbers that they filled half the grandstand area and had a section in the gallery all by themselves to prevent crowd trouble.
The cheering of the Chinese supporters was laudatory, making it feel like an away game for Singapore. They broke out in sustained cheers and singing throughout the game and the Singapore cheering paled in comparison. Shouts of “SINGAPORE!” petered out quickly and the only time the Singapore crowd could muster a confident, collective voice was – you guessed it – swearing in Malay again.
The game was billed as a National Day Challenge with President Nathan and Minister Mah Bow Tan in attendance but Singaporeans don’t seem too keen on meaningless friendlies.
The Red Sports poll on readers’ interest in the game was quite indicative. About 19% of respondents said they were going, which translates to a figure of 10,450 (official crowd figure: 12,820). The capacity of the National Stadium is 55,000.
Walter Teo, 46, led a small group of Singapore fans at the grandstand area. Dressed in a Lions T-shirt from days past, his group gamely cheered every Singapore move.
“I’ve been a supporter for over 30 years!” said Walter, whose son and father were with him in the group. “It was a long first half but the second half was ok. The Singapore goalie (Hassan Sunny) did a few good saves but Duric should have scored.”
“Hassan Sunny was man-of-the-match,” agreed his friend Cal Chin, 35, who was dressed in the national team jersey. He was quite surprised at the low turnout.
“I expected more people.”
REDpoll
With regard to the Singapore vs China football game ...
- I didn't go. (49%, 80 Votes)
- What game? (32%, 52 Votes)
- I went! (19%, 31 Votes)
Total Voters: 161
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There was a strong turnout of Chinese supporters that voraciously cheered their team on with sustained chants of “zhong guo dui! Jia you!”. (Photo 2 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Not only did the Singapore team have to contend with the physical challenge from their opponents, they also had to fight a psychological battle with the crowd. (Photo 3 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
The patriotic Chinese broke out into their national anthem during the game, drowning out the minority of Singaporeans who tried to show their support. (Photo 4 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
The Chinese reacting to an incident in the game which invited abuse from the Singapore crowd. The Chinese were particularly enthusiastic when it came to cheering on an attack. (Photo 5 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Hao Jun Min (China, #8) tries to round Sevki Sha’ban (Singapore, #19) for a shot attempt. (Photo 6 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Hariss Harun (Singapore, #21) tries to prevent Jiang Ning (China, #10) from getting to the ball. (Photo 7 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
There was a brief confrontation between the Chinese and the Singaporean supporters as they engaged each other in taunts. (Photo 8 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Aleksandar Duric clutches his face in pain after being struck by a Chinese defender. (Photo 9 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
John Wilkinson (Singapore, #14) tries to fend off his marker. (Photo 10 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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