Given that local football has been in the doldrums, this result feels significant. After the familiar and bitter taste of defeat over the years, a good result tastes all the more sweeter.
While they have a valuable point, the Lions remain rooted to the bottom of their World Cup qualifier group, three points behind China.
“It’s the beginning. We’ve only worked one week with the coach, everything takes time and we’re slowly getting into the hang of how he wants us to play,” Mahler told CNA’s Aslam Shah post-match.
Under previous coach Nishigaya, Singapore lost their first two matches last November, with a 1-3 home loss to Thailand and a 5-0 away drubbing by South Korea.
While Singapore’s result against China undoubtedly raised eyebrows, Thailand’s 1-1 away draw against group leaders South Korea was the headline-grabber.
Up against a side who made the round of 16 at the last World Cup, the Thais proved no pushovers. And once again, they are a reminder that Singapore football has some catching up to do to match up against Southeast Asia’s heavyweights.
But Thursday showed that the Lions can hold their own. There is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, a sense of optimism in the air.
“We want to play a good brand of football, we want to … bring back the golden days where we used to be the kings of ASEAN and even further,” said Mahler.
“This is a small step and hopefully we can continue on this.”
Singapore’s die-hard fans will hope he is right, and that this will be the start of a brighter footballing future.
Matthew Mohan is a correspondent at CNA. He specialises in sports reporting, and has covered the Olympics, World Cup, and a number of Southeast Asian Games.
