The youngest member of Singapore's legendary 1994 Malaysia Cup winning "Dream Team", footballer Lee Man Hon seemed to have disappeared from the local football scene.

This is until last weekend when he 'resurfaced' for an interview with football magazine FourFourTwo Singapore, where he shared his thoughts on the state of the local football. The feature was well-received, generating more than 3,600 shares on Facebook.

Here's more from Man Hon, his Malaysia Cup 94 experiences and his view on young football talents.

1. Are you still in touch with your Malaysia Cup 94 team mates?

Source: S-League

I just spoke to Steven (Steven Tan was well-known as the "Super-sub" of the Dream Team) just a few days back. We were talking about some of the Suzuki Cup Games.

Apart from Steven, I also keep in touch with Tong Hai (Lim Tong Hai). The rest of them, not very close. When I see them, it's Hi and Bye that's all.

2. You were a hearthrob in the 1994 team. What is the strangest gift you received from a female fan?

(Laughs) The worst one was a panty! They just threw it into my house! The year we won the Malaysia Cup, it got a bit crazy. We got nuisance calls and people would come and knock on the door and run away or leave gifts there.

3. So what did you do with it?

I threw it away of course! (laughs)

4. Why do you think the dream team was so special?

The squad had a very good mix. We had players from all the three races and we had experienced players, young players, and talented foreigners. We gelled really well as a team and there was a genuine desire to win.

That year, we had already won the M-League and we really wanted to win the Malaysia Cup and do the double as well. We came back in two big games, against Sarawak where I scored a last minute equalizer and against Pahang where we were down 2-0 after the first half. We got a tongue-lashing by Douglas Moore at half time and went on to draw 2-2.

5. What was it like being the youngest player on the team?

We were very reserved. After me, the second youngest player on the team was Zakaria Awang and we kept mostly to ourselves. We really looked up to the senior players and would try our best to follow the instructions given to us by the senior players.

I hung out mostly with Steven Tan and the late Borhan Abu Samah. Borhan didn't really mix with the other senior players. Tong Hai was also very quiet and reserved. He would always be in the room with Jang Jung. He only join the other senior players when they played cards. Fandi hung out with Malek, Kadir, Nazri and Abbas. Michal Vana was the odd one out. He never really mixed with the team.

6. Who did you room with on travels?

We followed a system where a defender would room with another defender, a midfielder with another midfielder and a striker with another striker. So I roomed with Steven Tan who was also a winger.

7. What was the team spirit like?

There was a good team spirit going around the team. Everyone was very serious and competitive on the field but off it we had fun as well.

I can still remember vividly our pre-season training tour to New Zealand. I shared a room with Tong Hai and Jang Jung. I was the youngest, so they would bully me. Like get me to fetch them water or carry their things. So there was one night when they were talking but I was tired after the game and wanted to turn in early, but they didn't want to let me sleep so they started throwing things at me, like socks, jerseys and even boots. They only let me go to sleep after they had run out of things to throw. But the next morning when I woke up and wanted to get ready for training, I found that they had locked all my gear in my suitcase and changed the combination numbers to the lock! I had to beg and beg them before they finally relented and as a result I was late for training and had to run extra rounds.

8. Who is the best player you have ever played with?

Abbas Saad scored a hat-trick in Singapore's 4-0 victory over Pahang in the 1994 Malaysia Cup final. (Source: Jamie Yeo Facebook)

The best player out of the whole team was definitely Abbas (Abbas Saad). Skills wise, he was the one who stood out. Until now, if you ask me, out of all the foreign players who have played in Singapore, either in the Malaysia Cup or in the S.League, Abbas Saad is still the best.

If you talk about the locals, well Sundram (V Sundramoorthy) was definitely one of the best, but he was not in the 1994 team, he was there in 1993, so from the 1994 team, there were a few you could choose from, Fandi (Ahmad), Malek (Awab) or Zakaria (Awang). Fandi didn't dribble that much or create but he was such a deadly striker, always in the right place at the right time, able to strike the ball so well and he was also an excellent leader in the team.

9. Name your local first XI dream team.

Goalkeeper

David Lee (Source)

Left Back and Right Back

Saswadimata Dasuki and Kadir Yahaya (Source)

Centre Defenders

Lim Tong Hai & Terry Pathmanathan (Source and Source)

Left and Right Mid-fielders

Lee Man Hon & Steven Tan (Source)

Centre Midfield

Mustafic Fahrudin & Nazri Nasir (Source and Source)

Strikers

Fandi Ahmad & V. Sundramoorthy (Source)

10. Do you still play football regularly?

Yes. I still play social football regularly My team actually consists of a few former S-League players. You have Amos Boon (Former Goalkeeper for Sengkang Marine) , sometimes Samawira Basri, and Fahmie Abdullah. We have been playing together for 16 years already.

11. Are there any players from the current Singapore side who would have made the Dream Team of 1993/1994?

Source: Football Association of Singapore Facebook

Maybe only Hariss Harun. Out of the present team that played in the Suzuki Cup, I have only been impressed with him. Perhaps Safuwan Baharudin, he's quite steady and plays with his heart but he's quite skinny for a defender and you are talking about displacing Tong Hai and Jang Jung. So I think only Hariss Harun would have made it.

11. What do you think needs to be done to get more young talent, not just Chinese players, but players from all races into the game?

You really have to improve the S.League. Right now it's clearly dying and I don't think many youngsters see football as a viable career.

I think the scouting system has also got to be better. In my time, they had these scouts and coaches going around to watch games in the schools to identify young players for the Milo Training scheme. I was playing for the Combined School's Team when I was spotted by Robert Lim. I got a call at home, I didn't even know who he was at first. He asked me to report for training at the Milo Centre at Glouchester Park. There were three Milo Centres at that time. Glouchester, Farrer Park and Mountbatten. It was a big thing to be selected for the Milo Teams and the teams from these three centres competed to see which was the best. I don't think there are as many coaches going around the different school games looking for talent today.

Top photo courtesy of Lee Man Hon.

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