I'm usually patriotic. But not when it come to sports. Im referring to the sg-uzbek debacle on mon. Now, a huge disclaimer: I am not a fan of soccer. I do not understand the game. I do no profess to even fathom why people are obsessed about it but nevertheless, I do respect their love for the sport. But that's not the point. I found myself rooting for the uzbeks for several reasons. 1) They are rather good looking 2) I have the impression that their country is poorer than ours 3) Their players are all local players. And yet they triumphed!

With every goal they scored, my spirits soared. Spore soccer big shots need a hugemongous slap in the faces. World cup 2010 my butt. When that dunno-which person i/c predicted that years ago, my toes almost fell off laughing. Then they spent money hiring 'talents'.

Balik kampung la. I feel zero sense of attachment to a team that has so many non-sporean people. Give me a team of mats and ah bengs playing and you will see me physically at the stadium. Send the best soccer team from the inter-sch games (like vj's soccer team) and I'll be there.

Send a bunch of people who unintentionally but nevertheless exude seemingly different interests in winning and fans wouldnt bother.

And I dont buy the whole we-need-those-talent-to-up-our standards crap. Let the locals play.Fuel their passion. Granted, allow those 'talents' in the domestic league. But NOT IN THE NATIONAL TEAM. The locals need to be exposed. Do not compromise letting the locals play just for the sake of winning. Where is the authencity in winning for spore if the key players arent even sporeans? What glory? I feel nothing. I am not moved. And Im sure others arent as well.

And please. You can argue all you want about the meaning of being a national. Of course, there's a politically correct way of defining one and yadda yadda yadda. But I think the best definition is probably the tacit consensus of the 'man on the street'.

END POST~12.03pm