Hanafi Akbar (centre) is one to watch for the future. (Photo: SSC)
Packing the stadium with over 5,000 fans, the Singapore
U-15 and U-16 sides gave our local football fans something to sing and cheer
about.
The Singapore fans were in high spirits throughout the
night and even though their singing might have been drowned out by the samba
drums, the finals of the 23rd Canon Lion City Cup seems to have
heralded a new dawn for Singapore football.
Starting with the 3rd/4th-placing
match against Juventus U-15, our boys were unfazed even though they were up
against bigger and stronger opponents, soundly thumping their Italian opponents
4-0.
Our U-16 boys also did us proud, pegged back for almost the
whole game; our boys fought hard and also had some gilt-edged opportunities as
they managed to hold the samba boys CR Flamengo for 90 minutes.
Even though Takuma Koga’s boys might have lost the penalty shootout
4-3, the performances of our boys in the tournament gives cause for optimism
for the future of Singapore’s football.
Singled out by the various foreign coaches, our number 10s
Hanafi Akbar and Adam Swandi were labelled as the players to watch, with their
twinkle toes and dancing feet endearing them to the hearts of the Singapore
public.
There were also several other players that stood tall
against their European and Brazilian opponents.
U-16 captain Dhuklian was a rock at the back and the same
could be said of R. Aarvin, his younger counterpart in the U-15 team,
complemented with strikers such as Muhaimin Suhaimi (U-16) and Zulfadhmi Suzliman
(U-15) providing the attacking verve up front, the future does look promising.
It’s also worth noting that legends Fandi Ahmad and V
Sundramoorthy made their name in this very tournament all those years ago and
there is much hope that stars will emerge again after this year’s tournament.