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Hairdryer treatment spurs Cerebral Palsy team to bronze-medal win

SINGAPORE — As the Singapore Cerebral Palsy footballers trudged into their dressing room at half time during their bronze-medal playoff against Causeway rivals Malaysia today (Dec 9), head coach Mohamed Zainudeen was racking his brain for a way to motivate his players and to push them to work harder.

The Singapore players show off their medals after defeating Malaysia 2-1. Photo: Sport Singapore / Action Images via Reuters

The Singapore players show off their medals after defeating Malaysia 2-1. Photo: Sport Singapore / Action Images via Reuters

SINGAPORE — As the Singapore Cerebral Palsy footballers trudged into their dressing room at half time during their bronze-medal playoff against Causeway rivals Malaysia today (Dec 9), head coach Mohamed Zainudeen was racking his brain for a way to motivate his players and to push them to work harder.

Despite the score standing at 1-1, he felt he had to change something after an unusually lacklustre performance by his charges.

Apart from a strong opening 10-minute spell by Singapore that saw striker Muhammad Shafiq tapping into an open goal in the first minute to give the hosts the lead before Malaysian midfielder Mohamad Sobri equalised four minutes later, it was an otherwise insipid display from the home side in the first half. 

Even though 5,323 fans turned up at the National Stadium to cheer them on — the largest crowd at a Singapore CP match during this Asean Para Games — the team opted to sit back and hit their opponents on the break instead of taking control of the game.

Zainudeen knew the bronze medal would be lost if things did not change. “I felt our boys were not competing enough in the first half,” he said after the game. I felt we needed motivation to surge forward and get into dangerous positions.

So he took a leaf from former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and gave his lads the “hairdryer” treatment. “Let’s just say that the half-time team talk was a loud one, “ said the 46-year-old with a laugh. “I wanted to push them to perform better because I knew they could do it.”

The move paid off as an inspired Singapore proceeded to defeat Malaysia 2-1. Forward Muhammad Mubarak picked the ball up on the edge of box in the 43rd minute and fired in his first goal of the tournament. When the final whistle was blown,the Singapore players hugged one another and sank to their knees. 

Team captain Khairul Anwar, Singapore’s top scorer at this year’s APG with five goals, agreed that Zainudeen’s shelling woke up the team.  “He was like Alex Ferguson at half time,” said the 29-year-old who felt that nerves played a part in the poor first-half display. “We finally woke up and pushed Malaysia back into their own half, and got the result.” 

Paying tribute to all the fans who turned up to support them during the APG, he said: “This medal means a lot to us because this has been a very memorable tournament for us, We have made a lot of memories in the last few days to last us a lifetime.” 

 

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