Support the Lions through thick and thin, former Singapore football coach Raddy Avramovic urges fans

SINGAPORE: If there is one man who knows what it takes to win the ASEAN football championship, it is 75-year-old Radojko "Raddy" Avramovic.

He hoisted the regional trophy three times as head coach of the Singapore team – first in 2004, and then in 2007 and 2012.

The Serb is the only coach in the history of the tournament to have won it three times.

Twelve years on from Singapore's last triumph, Avramovic is still fondly remembered and recognised.

"I spent 10 years (in Singapore), it was a big part of my life," he told CNA on Sunday (Dec 15). "It is (a second home)."

Along with a number of his former players and former fitness coach Aleksandar Bozenko, Avramovic was introduced before Singapore's match against Cambodia at the National Stadium.

The loudest roar was reserved for the legendary head coach.

Invited back as part of an initiative by ex-players such as former Lions striker Aleksandar Duric and supported by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), Avramovic is in Singapore for the first time since 2019.

"Forget about results, I have more satisfaction when I see those boys. I knew them as kids, they are now grown people, serious people and a lot of them stayed (in football)," he said.

Since Avramovic stepped down in 2012, the Lions have yet to make the final of the tournament, which is now known as the ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup.

The Lions' fortunes have waxed and waned, as regional rivals usurped Singapore as the powerhouse in the region.

But the message from Avramovic to the fans remains the same – get behind the team.

"They should come to support their team, (it) doesn't matter against who they are playing," he said.

"That way, it can give more confidence to the players, the players will feel a lot more relaxed, a lot