After 34 years of service to the nation, the National Stadium’s last night of operations on 30 Jun ended with a bang, literally with its closing ceremony, Field of Dreams.
Kicking off the celebrations first, were none other the Malaysia Cup heroes of yesteryear. Facing off against their ex-Malaysian International counterparts, these living legends including the likes of “The Dazzler”, V Sundramoothy and the goliath in goal, David Lee played out the 50 min exhibition match to a 1-1 draw.
Malaysia’s Dollar Salleh equalised from the penalty spot in the second half after Singapore had taken a lead in the first through a gem of a goal from Suria Munthi who rolled back the years as his exquisite shot from the edge of the penalty box had keeper Rashid Hassan well beaten.
But while these men who beared witness to the birth of the Kallang Roar played their hearts out once last time, they also gave a min of silence before the game in tribute to the late Choo Seng Qwee. Affectionately known by many as “Uncle Choo”, the former coach had inspired many of them to victory in the Malaysia Cup in 1977.
Noting that it was his 24th death anniversary, it was perhaps right that the man responsible for putting Singapore on the Asian football map, yet never received a testimonial, finally received the proper tribute on the very pitch that he held so dear.
Speaking about playing at the National Stadium for the last time, David Lee said that, “It’s an honour to be in the last team to play here in the closing of the National Stadium.” While his team mate Dollar Kassim added that the National Stadium had provided him with “so many fond memories”, and he would undoubtedly miss, “the passion, the cheering and the shouts” from the fans.
After the exhibition, the event officially got underway when the stadium’s cauldron was lit for the last time. Team Singapore athletes accompanied silver-medallist C Kunalan, who first lit the cauldron back in 1973 at the South East Asian Peninsular Games as he made the short run to light it one final time.
The Final Match
The main event for the night was undoubtedly the friendly between the Lions and Australia. With the latter team preparing for their upcoming Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup campaign, many in the 45 000 crowd were expecting to see a night of great football. And boy, were they ever satisfied.
Earlier in the day, veterans like Lee believed that the Lions would most certainly lose to their Australian counterparts, but they added that the current set of players wouldn’t succumb to defeat without putting up a valiant fight.
And the ASEAN Champions certainly proved their predecessors right, giving it as good as they got, especially in the first half. While Newcastle United’s newest signing Mark Viduka came close to scoring on a few occasions especially in the 25th min which required a headed goal-line clearance by Daniel Bennett, the Singapore defence provided a stout resistance.
Plus, Singapore’s Indra Sahdan Daud, who had previously scored against the likes of Manchester United and Uruguay at the National Stadium, was determined to end the night with a goal to his name. The diminutive striker nearly scored in the 38th min when he was clean through on goal, but could only shoot the ball straight at the advancing Mark Schwarzer. And just before half-time, Indra almost got his wish, but alas, the bar proved to be in the way after he connected strongly with the ball from a Shi Jiayi corner.
The second half took on a different note, with the Australians starting to acclimatise to the Singapore climate and their attacks becoming more fluent and threatening.
In the 52nd min, these threats amounted to a goal when a quick break from a Singapore corner allowed the Australians to put one up against the Lions, with Viduka’s header from Jason Culina’s cross just trickling over the goal-line.
Besides going a goal down, the Lions were dealt another blow when Mustafic Fahrudin, the colossal midfield general who had scored against Thailand in the ASEAN Football Championship Finals, had to be replaced by 16-year-old Hariss Harun in the 55th min. But perhaps in some way, the substitution signalled the beginning of a new era for the National Stadium, with Hariss set to lead the Lions when they return to the rebuilt stadium in 2011.
With Khairul Amri hitting the post and Singapore failing to get a penalty decision come their way after Jiayi was fouled in the box, the result seemed bleak, especially with the rapturous applause granted to the introduction of Australian winged wizard Harry Kewell in the 61st min.
His introduction gave the Australians an even greater impetuous in attack and they went 2-0 ahead in the 76th min after Kewell peeled away from his marker and pulled a shot that was just beyond goalkeeper Lionel Lewis’s reach.
Following that, Jiayi could only muster a shot straight at Schwarzer in the 80th min before Viduka made the Lions pay for their profligacy in front of goal, when he capitalised on Kewell’s cross to head home in the 87th min to make the final score 3-0.
Coaches Report
After the game, Radojko Avramovic admitted that the Lions missed Fahrudin’s presence in midfield, but he said that Australia showed why they had so many players based in the superior European leagues, but nonetheless, assessing his team’s performance he said, “Generally, I can’t say that the players did badly. They worked hard for 90 min, and I hope this game showed them that they must work harder still towards a better future.”
Australia’s Graham Arnold praised Singapore’s performance and added that, “Some clubs in Australia should take a look at the Singapore players.” However he wasn’t too pleased with some of his charges’ performance defensively. While refusing to name individuals, he said that the team still had much work to do to get ready for the AFC Asian Cup but was pleased that the team’s confidence was high following the victory. He cited Viduka whom he said “had a big smile on his face” after scoring twice in the game.
A memorable farewell
So despite sections of the crowd making their way to the stadium exits immediately after the game, the celebrations continued with a tribute from father-son duo, Brian and Mark Richmond who did a video presentation detailing the National Stadium’s most memorable moments. Following that, Kit Chan performed a song entitled ‘Live Your Dreams’ before President Nathan signalled the end of the celebrations when he doused the cauldron flame, which led to a fireworks and lights display which spectators will probably never forget.
So as the National Stadium bides its time before it gets primed for demolition, fans alike, young and old, will probably look back at this memorable night when a legendary coach finally got the mention he deserved, the pitch where the oldies turned back time and played once more and where their successors refused to get overawed by superior opposition, and when the stars paid tribute to this grand old dame, one last time.
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