My Encounter with a "Last-Minute" Critic

At the top tier of the National Stadium

That's something I would not want to hear after dragging myself from the National Stadium to catch one of those late-night trains home from Kallang MRT station.

Noticing my Lions' die-hard T-shirt (main picture), a stranger at the platform asked, "You went to see the game, ah? Who win, huh?"

"We (Singapore) won but (only) after (the) penalty shoot-out (against Malaysia)," I replied.

"You know why we played badly?" the stranger said.

"Because the players we have are formed last minute!"

"Where are the players who won the Tiger Cup? Like Subramani? The Chinese guy (Goh Tat Chuan)?

"You know why England can't perform? Because they are formed last minute!"

Thank goodness, before the "pundit" could continue with his theory, our train arrived.

Rather than listen to his absurdity, I stood near the train door and put on my music.

I have nothing against fans who want to make their views heard and acknowledged, but the bottom line is, "KNOW WHAT YA SAYING, BRO!!"

What does this stranger mean when he says, "they are formed last minute!"?

Does he even know what he's talking about?

By his logic, the national team should be a group of players permanently grouped together like a club team?

Having such a "grouped national" team would simply deny other players the chance to represent their country and, at the same time, make the "already national players" complacent.

In fact, this isn’t the first time I’ve heard such a silly comment from an ignorant fan - I listened to the same thing years ago.

We should all know there’s no such thing as a "permanent" national team. If the coach feels a player isn’t good enough, then out he goes and another replacement comes in — simple as that.

What a ridiculous explanation of this "last-minute" theory! Unlike club teams, national teams are only assembled for a few weeks or days for specific purposes (i.e. friendlies or international tournaments).

This guy must be another joker living in the past (i.e., Malaysia Cup days).

So please, man — know what you’re saying before you try to act smart.

Anyway, I did tell this stranger that Subramani was not fully fit. FULL STOP.

(Photo credit: Many thanks to Mr Wong Keng Meng for the shot taken.)