Commentary: It’s time to ask ourselves exactly how important football is to Singapore

SINGAPORE: Belief has been in short supply in local football for some time. But invigorated by a historic Asian Cup qualification last year, there was some excitement among supporters as the Lions entered the ASEAN Championship.

And head coach Gavin Lee and his team did not disappoint.

While the Lions exited the tournament in the semi-final stage, matching the results in the previous edition, the national team had notched a rare 2-1 win at Thailand’s home ground on Tuesday (Aug 18). This was not only Singapore’s first victory against Thailand since 2012, triumphing over the War Elephants on Thai soil was a feat Singapore last achieved in 2009.

And there’s more - Singapore drew with defending champions Vietnam and Indonesia in the group stage, something few fans expected. To be sure, neither Indonesia nor Thailand had their best players at the tournament, but the football that the Lions played under Lee was a clear step up from even their Asian Cup performances last year.

The Lions fought with the same intensity and physicality brought by former head coach Tsutomu Ogura, but Lee had added a level of sophistication to their passing game, which resulted in the team dominating possession and matched the Thais in chance creations over the two legs.

While Lee and his team have delivered so far on the field, one would argue that a bigger test is soon coming in the shape of the inaugural FIFA ASEAN Cup next month, in which regional teams will get to field their best players since the tournament is held within the FIFA window.

Singapore is set to face Indonesia and Malaysia in Group A. Indonesia will surely send a team resembling the one that became the only Southeast Asian side to advance to the group stages of the 2026 FIFA World Cup