Malaysian fans can rattle Singapore

Let's give give more and more support to the national football team. The fans, actually, are back again behind the team after that sweet success of winning the Asean Cup last year and this is refreshing, indeed.

But Datuk K. Rajagobal’s men need more “back-up” from the fans when they entertain traditional and bitter rivals Singapore in the World Cup qualifier second round return-leg clash at National Stadium in Bukit Jalil tomorrow.

Malaysia were beaten 5-3 by Singapore in the first-leg at Jalan Besar Stadium last Saturday in front of 6,000 fans — of which about 1,000 were Malaysians.

And the amazing news is that 60,000 tickets were snapped up just like that when Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) began selling them yesterday — with 20,000 sold at National Stadium. There will be another 25,000 be on sale on today.

And at the rate things are going, they will be snapped as well. A total of 2,000 tickets are being sold in Singapore. This means Malaysia will have a massive, massive 85,000 fans behind them. The fans, however, must also make their presence felt by cheering the team all the way and not keeping quiet if the chips are down.

There is no point of being presence at the stadium without giving the vocal support Let’s forget about political differences, for at least a day.

Let’s forget about marital, financial or whatever problems. In the 1970’s and 1980’s when stars like Quah Kim Song, the late Dollah Kassim, Mohamad Nor and Fandi Ahmad were gracing the pitch, Singapore were proud with their “Kallang Roar” which rattled their Malaysian opponents (both national and State sides) who found it really difficult to get results.

But “Kallang Roar” comprised support and cheers from about 55,000 fans. This is nothing if the home fans support the team to the fullest tomorrow.

Obviously, it is going to be an even bigger “roar” from 85,000 fans. This alone will surely rattle the Singaporeans, no matter how experienced some of their players are.

This is one big weapon for Malaysia as they try to erase that two-goal deficit from the first leg and advance to the next round. It is also interesting to note that fans are back singing that haunting patriotic song Inilah Barisan Kita at the stadium nowadays when Malaysia are in action.

This song was also sung by fans way back in the 1970s and 1980s at Merdeka Stadium and was certainly a source of huge inspiration to the national team then.