After winning Wednesdayâs opening Airmarine Cup match at Shah Alam Stadium, Lions coach Nazri Nasir humbly went on his knees, kissed the turf and offered prayers.
During the post-game locker room huddle, he rightly gave his players a celebratory pep-talk, congratulating them for rising to the occasion and showing themselves to be âperfect football ambassadors for Singaporeâ.
He said all the âdiscipline during practice and regular season was to get them ready to win this gameâ, and that they were going to party and enjoy the moment. But before dismissing them, he told the team to pray in their respective ways because offering blessings to the Almighty matters a lot in football, or for the matter, any sports, or in any matter of life.
I could feel tears streaming down his face as the 48-year-old newly-minted national coach told me in a long-distance telephone interview: (In Malay) âShukor, Shukor. Shukor!â
âI’m so proud of the spirit of the players, They were so personally demanding in wanting to perform and wanting to prove themselves in this big match. Quite honestly, I would have been happy with a draw as I only had 48 hours of makeshift preparation,â says Nazri, the captain of the Lions from 1997 to 2003, who led Singapore to the 1998 AFF Championship title.
âFull credit to the players. They rose to the occasion, after pre-match prayers and believed in their individual and team-spirit. They caught Malaysia with a late sucker-punch goal and held on for a very significant win every Singaporean can be proud of.âÂ
SATURDAYâS FINAL: OMAN
Next match will be Saturdayâs final against Oman, ranked FIFA No 90 and coached by Dutch legend Erwin Koeman. But Nazri is not overawed and daringly says he intends to give the âyounger players a big break to playâ.
âI will be bold to give fresher players a chance to prove themselves. The commitment of the Lions are unbelievable and they’re just raring to go, especially those on the bench. I’ll bravely give them a shot against Asian-class Oman, who thrashed Afghanistan 5-0 in the opening match.â
End of the day, Nazri, who was inducted into the FIFA Century Club in June 2007 after he retired as Lions skipper, wants to restore football credibility. He says: âLet’s have faith in Singapore football. Now’s the time to rise up the ladder with a bunch of hardworking and disciplined players with the âsemangatâ spirit to move up the ranking.â
The solitary late match-winner in the 82nd minute, ironically, came off the boots of Hougang United striker Faris Ramli, who played for Malaysian Super League side PKNS last season, courtesy of a smart-thinking Khairul Amri Kamalâs defence splitting pass.
FAS Council member and former international goalkeeper Yakob Hashim, who played in the 1984 Asian Cup, praised the FAS for âtaking a bold step to give Nazri a chanceâ. He says: âIâve said many times that a home-grown coach can do the job if heâs given the right support. Itâs just not about Fandi (Ahmad) only. We must now further groom Nazri for the next chapter.â
Former Lions skipper Razali Saad, also a FAS Exco Council Member who skippered the Lions from 1986-88 with 53 âAâ international caps, saluted Nazri: âWhen your back is against the wall with only two days to prepare for the opening match, he psyched the Lions to rise above themselves. Prayers, luck, whatever, the players gave their best shots because they wanted to prove a big point.â
Robert Lim, the former Lions assistant coach in the 1990s, acknowledged that Nazri Nasirâs Lions were âable to take the bulls by their horns in the Tigersâ den and came out victorious to do us proudâ. He says: âPlaying against Malaysia is much more than just football. Based on Malaysiaâs performance in the last Suzuki Cup, the Lions had a gigantic task in their hands.
SLICK PASSING GAME
âI thought they kept the ball well, prompted by Nazri from the sidelines. This led to the winning goal by Faris Ramli after their slick passing game opened up the disorganised Malaysian defence in the closing stages of the match. More importantly, the players looked happy and motivated, something thatâs amiss in previous matches. A job well done and Nazri deserves more than a pat in the back.â
Former Lions coach P.N. Sivaji, now a technical director with a Myanmar-based pro club Hantharwardy United, says: âI just caught bits of the match but I must admit that it was a fantastic and morale boosting win for Nazri , and more importantly for Singapore. Great to see Nazri confidentially taking on the challenge of leading the Lions for the first time, and coming and emerging with a very sweet victory.â
Malaysiaâs leading English newspaper, âThe New Straits Timesâ (NST), smacked with the headline âLions bite Tigersâ and conceded that Singapore emerged as theâKings of the Causewayâ. It says: âThe tournament was organised solely to boost Malaysiaâs ranking in hope of being ranked among the top 34 teams in Asia but the move has now backfired. It does not augur well for Harimau Malaya in the F:30 Roadmap era.â
Biggest blow for the FA of Malaysia (FAM) was its last-ditch plea to stop Ultras Malaya (a group of hardcore supporters of the national team) from boycotting the tournament through a pre-match press release. But it miserably failed as only 3,741 paying fans were at the 90,000-capacity stadium. The Ultras were screaming mad as tickets were rather extraordinarily priced at RM35 (free seating).
The NST lamented, too, that the defeat is also âquite embarrassing considering that Singapore only gathered their players for the tournament on Monday while the Malaysian players were assembled for centralised training on March 12â.
LIONSâ SHARE OF POSSESSION
The tabloid âThe Starâ newspaper laid the cards right: âMalaysia had the lionâs share of possession in the first half, but Singapore had the better chances in the matchâ.
For Harimau coach Tan Cheng Hoe, itâs back to the drawing boards after being on âCloud Nineâ when he defied the odds to make it to the AFF Suzuki Cup final last year, losing 3-2 to Vietnam. Under his guidance, Harimau Malaya recorded eight wins, three draws and five defeats and also moved up seven rungs to World No 167 in the Fifa rankings.
For the record, prior to Wednesdayâs clash, the last time Malaysia and Singapore (world-ranked No 165) met was in 2016, when they drew 0-0 in an international friendly at the Jalan Besar Stadium. Prior to that, Malaysia defeated Singapore 3-1 in the group stage of the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup competition at the Singapore National Stadium.
Indeed, in my final lines, let me reiterate that thereâs a divine-send meaning when prayers matter in close-edged football confrontations. Iâve always believed that when you pray, God listens. When you listen, God talks. When you believe, God works.
Thatâs why the new Lions coach Nazri Nasir humbly went on his knees, kissed the turf and offered post-match prayers at the Shah Alam Stadium. He believed in his players and he trusted the Almighty for this God-send sensational Airmarine Cup victory. â By SURESH NAIR
- Suresh Nair is a Singapore-based journalist, with over four decades football experience, who is also a AFC-Licenced coach and AFC Referee Instructor.
