It has been about a month since coronavirus first landed in Singapore.
Since then, 345 confirmed cases have been reported in this small Southeast Asian country. The number is increasing daily. Nevertheless, It’s business as usual for the Singapore Premier League - behind closed doors. Well, sort of - Some teams can find replacements for fans.
Albirex Niigata Singapore - Geylang International
The league kicked off at the end of February, with a match between Albirex Niigata Singapore and Geylang International. Not all teams played the same number of matches; some played one, other as many as four.
Only one match took place today: Albirex Niigata Singapore vs Tanjong Pagar.
Albirex, the satellite club of Japan’s J2 League team, have won 3 consecutive championship titles between 2016 and 2018. Most of the squad is composed of Japanese players, but you can also spot some Singaporean youngsters. It may have very well been an all-Japanese team if it wasn’t for the strict regulations, according to which Albirex must field two u23 Singaporean players in the starting line-up. It makes sense for the league to promote local talents, but the interesting part is that this regulation was implemented upon Albirex’s request.
Tanjong Pagar are the new face of the town, despite being around for a while. It is one of the Premier League’s founding members. The Jaguars had withdrawn from the league back in 2015 due to the financial difficulties but are now back after five years of waiting. This was made possible due to Warriors FC being expelled from the league before the season for the same reason. The first two matches ended with one draw and one loss – but they kept working hard towards their first victory.
They say hard work pays off, and maybe a bit of luck and praying too will get them to the victory. Surprisingly, it was Tanjong Pagar who netted first. Luiz Junior crossed to Shodai Nishikawa and the Japanese gave despair to his fellow countrymen at the 17th minute mark. You have to hand it to the league’s Twitter account - each player has a signature celebration move that gets posted every time they score. While some players “spray” the crowds with virtual machine-guns, Nishikawa simply thanks his supporters.
Albirex tried hard to get an equalizer after they conceded the first. White Swans’ plan seemed to work when Tanjong Pagar’s defender Delwinder Singh received a controversial red card right before the half-time mark, and Reo Taniguchi tapped the ball from the right flank in the 59th minute. To make matters worse, Luiz Junior had to be substituted due to broken ankle.
But the Jaguars never fell behind. In the 81st minute, another Brazilian in Tanjong Pagar squad, Yann Motta, curled the ball into the net from the free kick followed the foul that caused Luiz Junior’s injury.
Although Albirex responded immediately with Doi Tomoyuki’s header after three minutes, the Jaguars managed to end the game without conceding more goals. The four-goal thriller at Jurong East Stadium was enough to direct our eyes temporally to football without thinking about COVID-19.
Future SPL Matches (All in SGT)
Geylang International vs Balestier Khalsa, 4 Apr, 5:30 pm
Albirex Niigata FC (S) vs Lion City Sailors, 4 Apr, 5:30 pm
Young Lions vs Tanjong Pagar, 5 Apr, 5:30 pm