Wow...

When your prof look at you and your mates in the face and says in front of the whole class:

" This is the team to beat. This is the presentation I have been waiting for.."

You feel like you're on American Idol.

Pi-pi-pi-pi-pi pi-pi-pi-pi Budoh!!!!

What a befitting way to see off the Old Lady!!

Yes, I'm talking about the last match (probably) at the National Stadium today. The match was between Singapore and Thailand.

Of course, Singapore won. Otherwise, I would not have the mood to write something like this.

A very big thank you to the Singapore team for giving the fans the belief that we could recreate the scenes of the '70s. The atmosphere was simply electrifying. You could almost feel the waves of patriotism sweeping throughout the stadium. Of course, who would want to be left out of the fun? My group of friends and I cheered, shouted, screamed "referee kayu" and of course, formed part of the Kallang Wave. Those who spoke of its demise obviously have not been following the matches very closely.

The only thing that had left a sour taste in my mouth was the very childish behaviour by the Thai national team. If they had felt that they have been wronged by the referee, perhaps they could wait till the match was over before lodging a formal complaint. It was simply unprofessional to walk off the pitch in protest of a controversial decision. I always had high respect for the Thais but this incident really shook my perception of them.

So Singapore will go to Thailand for the second leg of the Finals. It will be amidst the incident and frosty diplomatic relationships between the two countries. It will be interesting to see how our players react to the crowd there.

But I have faith in our players. Always.