Cubs, our Nation's Pride

Dejected Cubs congratulating the Haitians

We were at the Jalan Besar Stadium to witness our cubs' loss against the Haitians tonight. The cubs didn't play as well as they did in their past two games, but they certainly put in tremendous effort in their bid to qualify for the Final.

A combination of careless mistakes, poor finishing and perhaps bad luck knocked our cubs out of the running for the gold medal. Still, they are our nation's pride and have inspired many.

The disappointment really had to be the crowd at the stadium tonight. The grandstand fans were pretty fantastic, but the fans at the gallery area, where we were situated, were poor.

One of the few decent fans in the gallery

It's easy to cheer on your team when they're beating the Zimbabweans and the Montenegrins. It's so easy to jump on the bandwagon and start purchasing the match tickets on the back of two victories.

But it takes a real fan to stand up and cheer the team on when the team is down, when the team needs your support.

The gallery crowd watched the game like it was an EPL match shown on a tele at home. Comfortable in their seats, silent when the cubs were chasing the game, letting out the rare yelp when the cubs missed their chances. That's not the way to support your team.

Worst of all, when the cubs conceded a late penalty, streams of fans at the gallery stood up.

"Fans" emptying the terraces before the final whistle.

To leave their seats.

For the exit.

WTF seriously.

A brilliant and sublime display of true support for the team that they had recently adopted after two inspiring YOG wins. Leaving the 15 years olds in the lurch when they had been hit by penalty decision is a disgrace. The team was staring at a two-nil defeat and all these fair-weather fans could think about was beating the traffic or going for supper.

The cubs have proven that there's hope with our nation's football. They impressed. They delighted. They fought.

Taking on the world

But it's time the fans do their part and put the nation above themselves.