December 7,
2004
Despite being the ray of hope of Singapore in this year Tiger Cup, Indra Sahdah know he had done
nothing yet to prove himself & is desperate to set the record right on all his
Tiger Cup campaign thus far.
He had missed out on Singapore’s 1998 Tiger Cup
triumph & up to now in the next 2 editions he had not had the chance to
prove himself with the previous 2 coaches – Vincent Subramaniam
& Jan Polusen - having little faith in him & rarely used
him.
Therefore Indra Sahdan is
hoping to use the 2004 Tiger Cup to justify his reputation as one of ASEAN
top strikers.
The 25-year-old
Home United striker said he does not want people just to see him in the
S-League. He want to show people that he can perform
on a bigger stage & this is the perfect opportunity for him to show that.
However he
also added while he want to prove his worth as an
individual he also know that the team comes first. It does not matter if he
score or not as long as the team wins & he will be very satisfied.
The team
ethic he holds dear nowadays contrasts with the indifferent attitude he
showed when he was taking the first tentative steps on his international
career.
Looking
back, Indra accepts that it was his professional
naivety that robbed him of his chance to be part of Singpore’s
proudest footballing hour.
Indra recalled he was
in the squad but never got called up. At that stage he was not really thinking
about the future as he was always going out at night with friends.
Thankfully though
this was just a short period of his life & for that he thanked his father
as his father was always on his back about the lifestyle he was leading.
Also the
fact
However Indra
was philosophy about it as he acknowledged even if he was in the squad as we might
not have won so it was fate he was not supposed to win it at that time.
However if 2004
is to be his time, Singapore coach Raddy Avramovich will be hoping a long & arduous season for
club & country doesn’t catch up with him as on top of national team duty, Indra along with his fellow Protectors teammates Aide Iskander & S. Subramani have played
in more than 50 matches this season, including a run to the last four of the
AFC Cup.
Fatigue, though,
does not appear a factor for Indra, who has put back
ankle surgery to represent his country at the fifth edition of the Tiger Cup.
The
25-year-old striker said it has been a long season for the Home United players
in the squad but with the Protectors coach Steve [Darby] looking after them
during the season & in the national team none of them have been pushed too
much, he do not
feel tired.
In fact he is raring to go & this could proved important for