Hey, wassup? Been awhile. Yeah. Anyway, I saw a news article online bout the game last night and thought I'd commented..turns out my comment went blog-length..hehe.. (I usually microblog. See @sunnymst). So what the heck, here it is:
I am not gonna make excuses for the lads. We lost because late on we lost control in midfield, lost collective concentration to defend, was over-excited to attack when they pulled one back, and totally lost shape when they equalised.
But guys, put things in perspective. This is a very young side and are clearly overstretched by injuries and fatigue. They lost control of midfield when 3 main midfielders went out injured, one key midfielder was only 17 years old! Oh, not to mention another defensive midfielder being forced to stay on the pitch injured as no extra subs allowed?
Besides, Bahrain are clearly the better team that night and our goals came from 1) Individual brilliance of a 17 year old, and 2) Error from the Bahrain keeper. Did I realistically expect our team to win? Not really. I think the nation itself got a little too ahead of itself. I just wanted them to play as good as they can and they've duly done so. A draw would've been a bonus.
It is all part of the learning curve and as a nation, this lesson will only benefit our national team in the long run. They will grow up and be better players because of this experience as long as they & the management remain steadfast on this development path.
And us as fans, I am happy that there are now more fans who are supportive of our team than those who just know how to condemn. Our team is playing better and had given their all - surely that is all we can ask for.
Have faith & keep on supporting so that the good players remain motivated knowing they fight for fans who are worth fighting for.
