December 31, 2004

Veteran Singapore defender S.Subramani believes that the current Lions squad could emulate the team of 1998 that has won the island nation’s only international football honour to date.

Subramani is one of only two players in Singapore’s 2004 Tiger Cup squad, along with team captain and Home United teammate Aide Iskandar, to have been a part of the 1998 squad that beat the odds to score a 1-0 win over hosts Vietnam to win South East Asia’s premier football tournament.

Speaking prior to the team’s return to Singapore for the return leg of their semi-final encounter against Myanmar, Subramani said that he saw signs of the same spirit that took the Lions to victory six years ago.

Subramani, who at 32 is the oldest member of the current Singapore squad, said he can certainly feel the same spirit of 1998. Just like then, it was tough all the way but we managed to pull through.

Subramani’s confidence has been further boosted following the Lions’ 4-3 victory over Myanmar in the semi-final first leg that puts them within touching distance of the Tiger Cup final.

He said it was a good result as they achieved their aim of getting a win at KL.

Still he expect the second leg to be tough as Myanmar are a hard running team & will make things tough.