Dream of football gold may come true

by Mohamed Shamir, TODAY, 7 Jul 2012

In 26 editions of the South-east Asian Games, Singapore has never succeeded in winning the gold medal in football, arguably the most coveted medal of the biennial Games. The Lions made the final on three occasions - 1983, 1985 and 1989 - each time coming up short.

Since 2001, football has been run as an under-23 competition, with Singapore having only bronze medals in 2007 and 2009 to show.

Set the target of reaching the final at the last Games, Singapore did not even make it past the group stage, despite the Football Association of Singapore pulling technical director Slobodan Pavkovic out of the office to coach the side.

Talent, it seems, has never really been the problem. Pavkovic's charges included current senior internationals Hariss Harun, Safuwan Baharudin and Izwan Mahbud, and the cohort that won bronze in Korat in 2007 included Shahril Ishak, Khairul Amri, Baihakki Khaizan and Hassan Sunny.

'MOST IMPORTANT MEDAL'

Despite the relative lack of success, the football fraternity is again abuzz with newfound confidence, following strong performances in recent youth competitions. 

There is hope that the current crop of teenagers in Singapore's football bullpen can finally deliver in 2015 what the likes of Fandi Ahmad, V Sundramoorthy and Malek Awab could not and give the nation the gold it so craves.

Backing this optimism is the recent pronouncement from Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Chan Chun Sing, who labelled the football gold the "most important medal" at the 2015 Games. 

He also called for the national youth teams to "stay together" and "continue to be given the opportunities to be exposed to high-level competition".

That statement will surely come as sweet music to the ears of coaches, FAS officials and those who watch local football closely.

The hunt for gold does not start with the footballing vision of Adam Swandi or the dancing feet of Hanafi Akbar or even the resilience of Delwinder Singh. For some time now it has been a question of will, beyond the confines of the pitch.

National Service (NS) issues have plagued football, especially with the SEA Games being an under-23 tournament, and will continue to be a stumbling block for boys who will have to enlist and serve while carrying the football hopes of a nation on their backs.

Pravin Guanasagaran, a current full-time NSman, has been limited to just one appearance for the LionsXII in their Malaysian Super League campaign and Pavkovic, too, is well familiar with the disruptive effects of NS commitments.

Ten days before his team landed in Jakarta last year, the squad was still not finalised, with six players eventually forced to miss out on the tourney. Of the 20 who made the trip, seven were consistently missing from training sessions.

He said then of NS: "It is above my level to speak about this but something should be done if we want to compete with the best. Our preparation was not good enough for our target."

WHEN THERE'S A WILL...

Things, though, are on the up as Chan, a former Major-General in the military, will still have clout and, as MCYS chief, can help ensure that teams can continue to stay and play together.

Singapore's Vision 2030 sporting master plan has been faced with naysayers who don't believe that there will be any significant changes to the NS system, which continues to hinder the development of male athletes here. 

But Chan's words point to the presence of a will - a will that has inspired hope in the football family and, indeed, in the Singapore sporting fraternity.

"Who should take responsibility that I don't have the team or the players?" asked national coach Radojko Avramovic when the Lions - missing four NSmen players to last-minute NS issues - returned from a 7-1 hiding at the hands of Iraq in the World Cup qualifier earlier this year.

With a will looking like it may just match the talent in the bullpens, hope burns bright that come 2015, that question won't be asked again - and the Republic may finally lay its hands on that elusive gold.