Deadpoet’s Cave

This was originally an email to a few friends who weren’t at the stadium. Here’s my match reaction:

What you might not have seen on TV: The Thai fans were actually very sporting. They did their part with keeping the waves going. Their drums kept on going throughout the whole game. The Singapore fans were actually on better behaviour than I’ve seen on previous occasions. Quite a number didn’t stand for the Malaysian national anthem but as far as I know, most stood (and kept relatively silent) for the Thai anthem. Ours was sung with more gusto than at a National Day Parade.

During half time, the Thai mascot searched out a Singapore fan with the flag. They then hammed it up for the TV crew, waving their flags, hugging and all. Not sure whether all that was televised. It was all in good spirit.

If you didn’t catch the first half, you missed Singapore’s best performance in a long time. I definitely haven’t seen them play so well before. They kept their shape as a team very well. Bennett was just brilliant, with plenty of tackles and interceptions. Ridhuan - fast becoming my favourite player in the team - was having another good game. Everyone was pressing the Thais, defending from the front. The Thais seemed to be content with sitting back and soaking the pressure. And falling down at every opportune moment. Confident that Singapore would not score, their game plan was probably to hit on the counter, take what they could and finish Singapore off at home.

That was the plan, but it went to shreds when Singapore scored first. I don’t remember much about the goal itself, ‘cos the jubilation at scoring first was… well… all-consuming. I know there was a good build-up to the goal, and we deserved it. The Thais continued to stick to their plan until half time.

I’m not sure why Indra was taken off at half time. The Thais stepped up a gear or two and started taking the game to the Lions. Attacking in packs, they hounded our guys on every blade of grass. I’m not sure if a tactical switch was made. If it was, it was brilliant because Ridhuan, who had been instrumental in many of the earlier raids, was now anonymous.

Their equalizer was a bit of a shock. Our defence was totally caught off-guard. The Singapore crowd, as they are wont to do whenever the opposition scores, became meek. Even the big group of die-hard fans opposite the grandstand weren’t as exuberant. Singapore weren’t exactly under the cosh though. We seemed to be dealing with their attacks well enough. Lionel made a couple of good saves. The first, he parried. The second, he caught emphatically. He makes goalkeeping look so easy.

The match seemed headed for a draw.

Then the incident happened. I didn’t really catch what went on in the penalty box. All I knew what that the referee had awarded it and the Singaporeans found their voice again. I saw the goalkeeper heading towards the subs bench. At first, I thought he had been sent off. Then, I realised that the whole team was walking back to the bench.

The Thai coach seemed to be the one who instigated this. He, more than any other official, seemed to be frantically gesturing for his team to return to the bench. I have no idea what they were trying to achieve. The referee’s decision, we are always told, is final.

So there we were, all 55,000 of us, wondering what the hell was going on. We were all disappointed with the Thais. This is the kind of behaviour from supposedly the best team in South East Asia? As Alvin said, it would have been 2-1 if Singapore had scored from the penalty. Not a disaster by any means. The Singapore supporters went through a whole range of frustrated noises. Some directed at the Thais, some directed at the referee.

After what seemed like at least 20 minutes of non-action, the Thais finally decided to continue playing. I scanned through the Laws of the Game and couldn’t find anything about teams refusing to continue playing. Perhaps they were trying to get the match abandoned, thus forcing a replay. The ref could have yellow carded the entire team for leaving the field of play without permission.

Whatever it is, when play restarted, the penalty went in.

Pandemonium is just a word until you experience it with 55,000 people. The Singapore supporters spent the rest of the game booing the Thais on every touch. Singapore came close to a third goal several times too.

After the ref blew the whistle, the Lions thanked the fans at the East side, then promptly made their way to the dressing room. I sensed they knew the battle wasn’t over. The Thais lingered at their technical area, refusing to leave. Refusing to accept their first loss to Singapore over 90 minutes since the year I was born.

The game in Thailand is going to be a real test for the Lions and the fans who will be there. Especially with all the ongoing political shenanigans and the farce of the first leg.

UPDATE Check out what Samsies has to say about this absolute disgrace.

Original photo by steelwool, modified from this photo. Used with permission.

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