There was a scrum of at least 30 media representatives who attended the pre-match media conference on 3 September at the Bukit Jalil Stadium, ahead of the ‘A’ international friendly between Singapore and Malaysia which will take place on 4 September in Kuala Lumpur.
The accreditation list at the media conference room door was even longer.
In every sense, all matches between Singapore and Malaysia – dubbed a Causeway derby – are deemed historic.
There is recent memory of the nil-all draw at the Asean Football Federation group stage match just barely less than a year ago, which allowed Singapore the chance to slip into the semi-final.
Going further back, there were the hammerings as well, including a 4-0 one the National Stadium in 2002 and another whiplash at the regional championships again in 2023.
A 2022 friendly at the National Stadium saw the Lions walk away victorious with a 2-1 result, on a night which will probably be remembered more for the SISTIC ticketing disaster.
This time around though, all eyes will be on Gavin Lee as he leads the Lions as interim national head coach.
A Malaysian journalist posed a question about the identity of the incoming big name hire.
Gavin Lee should have well asked him to trust the process.
And what if the former Tampines Rovers coach gets the results he needs against Malaysia, Myanmar and the double-bill against India in October?
Wouldn’t that then mean that he will probably be given the chance to help Singapore achieve its historic objective of qualifying for the Asian Cup on merit for the very first time?
Chances could well be that if that possibility happens, the leadership team may well think twice about spending a huge amount of cash on a foreign coach who may well not do any better in the interim.
But again, all is moot without the benefit of being able to see into the future.
And the results over the next two months could well dictate how Forrest Li and Desmond Ong move forward with the coach who is supposed to set the nation talking at every coffee shop discussion.
A win against Malaysia in Bukit Jalil on 4 September could well mean that that name being discussed among the coffee-shop uncles, as promised by Forrest Lee, is one who goes by the name Gavin Lee.
MAIN PHOTO: TMSG