Part One of this 2015 review of Singapore football covered five issues affecting the sport. Part Two examines five more.

SEA Games

Initially, the target was gold (watch this July 2013 video, 00:58-1:07). But weeks before the SEA Games, the initial target was lowered and eventually became "to play in the final".

Eventually, the Singapore Under-23 team disappointed a whole nation, failing to reach the semi-finals on home soil.

Ironically, none of Singapore's matches were held at the National Stadium.

What a debacle! It's even worse when considering the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) had spent a huge sum of money on the SEA Games squad's training trips to Turkey and Japan.

Overstayed

The FAS found out the hard way that the LionsXII had overstayed their welcome in Malaysian football when they were unceremoniously dumped from Malaysia's domestic competitions.

The Football Association of Malaysia made the decision in November without first informing the FAS.

It's puzzling. The FAS fielded what is essentially Singapore's national team in a foreign league whose standard is hardly better (if at all) than the S-League's. No other country adopts such a strange approach to football development.

Although the LionsXII won the 2015 Malaysia FA Cup and the 2013 M-League, Singapore's four-year soccer sojourn in Malaysia has hardly helped to improve local football.

Competence

Off the pitch, FAS general secretary Winston Lee put Singapore on the continental map in April when he was elected as vice-president of the ASEAN zone in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

The 51-year-old's election could be seen as recognition of his competence as a football administrator. But with Singapore football in dire straits, many might be wondering if there's a shortage of skilled Singaporean football administrators.

Lee is but one man. Ultimately, the direction Singapore football takes depends much more on the FAS president than anybody else.

Coach

National coach Bernd Stange has been on the job for 30 months, but the Lions are nowhere near playing the one-touch football the German is touting.

Not everyone is convinced Stange is the most suitable man to fill the Lions' hot seat.

Just consider Singapore's struggle to defeat Afghanistan and Cambodia in October. The following month, the Lions displayed a lack of professionalism against Syria during a World Cup qualifier which Singapore needed to win.

Strangely, after the Singaporeans equalised, they were more interested in celebrating than quickly restarting the match to seek a winning goal (listen to the match commentary, 1:07-1:25). The Lions conceded a late goal and lost 1-2, but Stange insisted after the match, "We did everything right" (3:08-3:12).

Erosion

Singapore is seemingly suffering an erosion of football culture.

Consider the following and ask yourself whether it's sound planning.

Our national Under-17 Cubs have never reached the top three in ASEAN and are minnows on the Asian stage. Needless to say, Singapore has never been anywhere close to qualifying for the Under-17 World Cup.

Yet, the FAS wants to bid for the hosting rights of the FIFA event in 2019 or 2021 and throw the Cubs into the deep end against world-class opponents.

Shouldn't money to be used for hosting the FIFA event be spent on strengthening youth development programmes instead?

Regrettable

With too many own goals in 2015, it was certainly a regrettable year for Singapore football. Even former S-League player Aleksandar Duric criticised Singapore football in his newly launched autobiography, noting that it is in "a very bad shape, the worst I've ever seen it".

In the long run, Singapore must produce footballers capable of playing in foreign leagues of a much higher standard, in order to challenge Asia's big boys.

Hassan Sunny, arguably the Republic's best goalkeeper at the moment, is leading the way. He is the first home-grown Singaporean footballer to play in South-east Asia's No. 1 league, the Thai Premier League.

The Lions custodian is so consistently impressive that he has earned a two-year contract extension at Army United. While some Singaporean players have played abroad on a short-term basis or merely been on trial overseas, Hassan is the real deal.

For Singapore football to have a real shot at success, more players need to emulate the 31-year-old goalie.

Michael Y.P. Ang is a Singaporean freelance journalist and an ex-sports officer at the former Singapore Sports Council. In 1999, he was among the core group of journalists who helped launch Channel NewsAsia, where he covered sport for several years.

Follow his Facebook page Michael Ang Sports for his views on sport in Singapore.

Top photo from FAS facebook page.

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