In November, 2006, we were the first overseas club to reach the final of the Singapore Cup. And we came within a few seconds of being the first to win it. Goals on 74 minutes by Pipob On-Mo and 76 minutes by Arthit Sunthornphit had sent the 20 visiting fans, plus a few thousand ex-pat Thais, who had gathered in the national stadium, into raptures. 2-0 up and looking comfortable. What could possibly go wrong?
Whether it was inexperience, nerves or sheer exhaustion, Chonburi seemed to stop playing in the last quarter of an hour and this allowed Tampines Rovers back into the game. A strike by Aliff Shfaein on 84 minutes was followed by a Santi Chaiyaphuak goal in the dying seconds and the game went into extra time.
Reduced to nine men after the sendings off of Kafoumba and Adul Lahso, we hung on until deep into injury time, only to concede a heart-breaking third goal, when penalties seemed the likeliest outcome. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but even this cruellest of defeats can't take away the fact that it had been a memorable weekend. Nor can it detract from the bizarre spectacle we witnessed at half time.
With a foreign side making it all the way to the showpiece, our hosts felt it appropriate to enlist the services of a popular Thai singer to provide the entertainment during the break. At the time, Palmy was probably the biggest name in the business so the local FA pulled off something of a coup by getting her to perform.
Even though she was only there as light relief while the players enjoyed cups of tea and orange slices and the fans refilled their glasses, the young Thai/Belgian was determined to put on a show. With a state of the art wireless microphone in hand, she was able to prance about wherever she liked, while her band stood (and sat, in the case of the drummer) rooted to the stage in front of the main stand.
After singing her opening number to the dignitaries on the far side, she bounded barefoot (barefoot!) across the field to a more appreciative audience of Thai fans. We all went wild as the young chanteuse sang and danced before us. Gifts were showered upon her (including my shirt that she’s holding the photo) as she rattled through her greatest hits. So entranced were we by her performance, that none of us noticed that the teams had come out ready to resume the match. In fact, they’d been out for quite some time before anyone paid them any attention.
Still Palmy sang and still we partied in the stands. Eventually, the plug was pulled (Boo!) and the game could continue. At least that as the intention.
It was only when the referee was counting the personnel that he - and we - realised there was no-one in the Chonburi goal. Our keeper, Badra Ali, was missing! Where was he? What was he doing? Why had nobody spotted until now that he was absent?
Frantic discussions took place and finally someone from the Sharks’ coaching staff was despatched to the changing rooms. A short while later (half time had now lasted about 40 minutes), the staff member re-emerged, with the sheepish looking custodian walking a few steps behind him. The man in the middle promptly brandished a yellow card to the bemused keeper before he took up his position between the sticks. We were finally ready to restart.
As much as we were all engrossed in the action on the field for the remainder of the tie, there was still a lot of speculation as to what had delayed Ali’s return. We found out the following day that he had locked himself in the toilet. Surely Palmy’s singing wasn’t that bad! Was the singer poor?
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