Inaugural football game at Sports Hub a letdown

I watched the game between the Singapore Selection and Juventus at the Sports Hub on Aug 16, and was disappointed on several levels. First, while the National Stadium’s physical structure was impressive, the pitch was below par.

It was sandy, with many barren patches, not at all like the state-of-the-art turf mentioned in reports. Indeed, Juventus rested one of their star players, Carlos Tevez, reportedly due to concerns about the safety of the pitch.

The game itself was lacklustre and pedestrian. Notwithstanding that it was a friendly at the end of a long and busy post-season in a World Cup year, the quality of football was below expectations.

Some of Juventus’ star players did not play. The Singapore team also looked laboured, with few flashes of incisive play. Even if they could not match the Italians’ abilities and experience, they should have shown better organisation, tenacity and diligence.

Disappointingly, the stadium was not full. I fondly remember, as a teenager in the early 1990s, the electric atmosphere of a capacity crowd supporting a stellar Singapore team in the Malaysia Cup.

I had looked forward to a heaving Kallang cauldron again, but such an atmosphere was absent from this game.

There are probably multiple reasons for the poor attendance. Tickets were expensive, and possibly prohibitive for at least a section of fans. I paid $103 for a seat in the lower gallery, not what I would consider a premium seat.

Perhaps more could have been done to defray costs, at least for this inaugural game. Arguably, too, Juventus lacks the draw of Barcelona or Real Madrid; both are saturated with superstars and have global appeal.

Difficult and expensive as it must be to bring in the Messis and Ronaldos, that would have drawn more spectators and been fitting for the inauguration of Singapore’s lavish sporting centrepiece.

The software must match the hardware. Football games must be first and foremost about pitches and players who are up to the mark and about facilitating fan involvement in every way feasible.

The spectacular architecture and gleaming terraces are wonderful, but secondary to the most critical element: The mutually reinforcing interaction between fans and players, which can only be engendered by making sure the football itself is up to scratch.