This has been a fantastic journey in the StarHub League Cup for Geylang United, because nobody had expected us to do so well in this competition.
The boys really deserve it for reaching the Final. They have been training very hard in training everyday, especially the younger players. We are a young team and everyone tries to help one another. That is the spirit of the team. It’s the spirit and the hard work of the team that brings us this far.
We face the challenges of “bigger” teams like Albirex Niigata (S) and Tampines Rovers with plenty of star players in their squads but we still managed to overcome them. As a team, we are greater than Albirex and Tampines in this competition. It is good for the boys to know that if we play together as a team, we can beat anyone in the league.
Regarding the Final, no one enjoys losing and the boys are all very disappointed that we lost. We battled till the end but it was not to be. However, everyone is happy because they know the kind of performance we can produce if we play to our maximum potential. I felt that we deserved something out of the game but in the end, luck is not on our side.
One of the DPMM FC players came telling us that we were really unfortunate to lose this game. That really gave us a lot belief in ourselves. We will keep our heads up and continue our journey on getting Geylang United back to where it is supposed to be.
A positive point to note is that these young players have grown very fast. Their improvement is tremendous. It is important to allow these boys to play at the highest level in order for them to improve further especially in the S-League. Some of these boys are still playing in the Prime League (Under-23 league) and it will be important to allow these boys the necessary opportunities in order for them to get a real taste football at the highest level here.
Playing younger players with potential in this tournament has served the team well as the technical team has seen how they fared when we put them to test at the highest level. In this way, they will also mature faster in their development as a footballer.
There is great potential in this young team and it is definitely one for the future. If we can keep this team and develop these boys further, they will bring Geylang United back to where the Eagles are supposed to be.
*Syed Fadhil, skipper of Geylang United’s StarHub League Cup squad was speaking to Liga Singapura upon the completion of the StarHub League Cup Final.
