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| Andrea Pirlo - the midfield Mozart |
The locals should be proud of what they have seen in the Singapore Selection side against Italian powerhouses Juventus in the very first football match played in the new National Stadium.
A notable performance by Warriors' goalkeeper Hassan Sunny at goal had at least accounted for five saves to deny the "Grand Old Lady" from ripping the Selection apart in the first half.
Eventually, the "Bianconeri" did find their way to the back of the net on two occasions through "dead ball" situations credited to the crowd favorite - midfield maestro Andrea Pirlo, who took the
honour of being the first goalscorer inside this pristine arena through his efforts in the 16th (free-kick) and 44th minute (penalty).
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Historical moment - Pirlo scored the first goal
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| Historical moment - Pirlo scored his second goal |
However, the same cannot be said for the second period with the Italian side turning on the turbo as early as three minutes after the restart when Paul Pogba tripled the tally from inside the box for having overpowered his marker before drove low beyond the reach of Hassan.
Two more goals later in the game from Sebastian Giovinco and substitute Kwadwo Asamoah completed the 5-0 rout and capped the tour for the defending Serie A champions on a clean sweep of three victories out of three official matches played in Jakarta and Sydney, besides Singapore.
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The tussle for the ball
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Pogba (second from right) scored the third
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It was the only clean sheet as well for Massimiliano Allegri's men in this excursion following goals conceded in their Indonesian and Aussies outings.
However, it was the condition of the playing surface that concerned Coach Allegri and opted not to start another crowd
favourite Argentine Carlos Tevez.
Explaining his decision to a question posed by the media, the former AC Milan coach said: "The field condition is not perfect and it is too sandy that I keep Tevez on the bench as a precautionary measure to prevent any further injury to him."
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Tevez (second from left) rest for precaution
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Stange: "Not proud of 30,000" turnout
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Whilst Selection's coach Bernd Stange is happy with the performance of his boys against opponents of such caliber, he is, however, not happy with the turnout of this match.
Said the German coach: "I am not proud of the thirty thousand (official attendance: 27, 338) when in other countries you would expect a full house against a top-class side like Juventus,
"But it was a great event for the Selection against Juventus which first half was an exciting one before they (Juventus) increased their speed in the second half and I am pleased with the performance that won the hearts of the fans."
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Getting from bad to worst... there is no hope for singapore football...so much promises of the type of football he preaches but what i see is only time wastin of passin in own half or simply lack confident of movin up field and when in opponent half seems hopelessly lost and loosin the ball easily. Its like that throughout whole match man. If the coach and his management think the LIONS XII and CYL are the best that country can offer i fear the worst for football here:(
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