Fans of the Singapore national football team cheer the team en route to a 3-0 victory against Myanmar on Sunday, 5 December.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE SPORTS HUB.
It’s been a tough couple of years for sports fans around the world, including us in Singapore. Although the pandemic is still causing problems across the globe, the world is starting to heal, and high-level athletics are getting the ball rolling again.
Singapore hit a significant milestone this December when the AFF Suzuki Cup 2020 kicked off in the National Stadium at Singapore Sports Hub. It’s the largest football event of the year, and, honestly, in recent memory — a boon for sports fans who have been starved of live international competition at this scale.
While defending champions Vietnam remains the favorites in this year’s tournament, strong competition from Thailand and Malaysia will make things interesting — all three teams showed promise in their opening matches. However, with a significant break in competition because of the pandemic, hopefuls in Singapore (who defeated Myanmar 3-0 in their opening match) and across Southeast Asia are optimistic that the reduced schedule during the pandemic will help to level out their chances against the favorites.
Long before the players hit the pitch, a small army of ground staff had been hard at work laying the foundation for the footballers to perform their best. The quality of a football pitch can greatly impact the results of a game — an uneven field can change the ball’s trajectory, while poor traction and compaction can cause player injuries. Since October, Singapore Sports Hub’s Pitch Architect, Jonathan Teo, and his team have been hard at work perfecting the playing surface for the opening touch of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2020.
It’s not just sports that take center stage at the National Stadium, so Jonathan and his team develop the football pitch offsite, growing the grass in nurseries for months before harvesting it, cutting it into 10×1-meter rolls, and using a “lay and play” approach to turn an estimated 1.1 tons of green into the field where the championship cup will eventually be hosted.
The National Stadium at SINGAPORE SPORTS HUB covered in turf using the “lay and play” system.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE SPORTS HUB.
“The lay and play system is unique to Singapore Sports Hub,” said Teo. “We are the only stadium in the world to use this and it has worked very well for us. We need to be able to transform the field of play for a diverse set of events. For example, having a stage on the field for a concert will damage the turf and it will take a long time to recover and be ready for sporting events. The lay and play system enables us to remove the turf temporarily while the concert takes place without any risk to the playing surface.”
The system caught the attention of Thomas Tuchel, who is the current manager of Chelsea Football Club and was head coach of Paris Saint-Germain Football Club during the 2018 ICC event. He praised the surface’s quality.
The process takes place across four stages, the first being to harvest the grass from a nursery before being cut into chunks and moved to the stadium. The rolls are then examined for weakness and defects before placement. The nurseries where the grass is originally grown are outdoors, but the National Stadium exists in a microclimate with restricted airflow and temperature traps — meaning Teo and Co. need to spend extra time caring for the pitch and keep it thriving.
“We have testing equipment to track and monitor the progress of the grass,” said Teo. “Factors like traction, moisture, temperature and hardness indicate the plant’s health.”
Once the final stages are complete — ensuring dimension lines are marked accurately, goal posts are set up properly, and the seams between turf rolls are holding together — the games are ready to begin.
“I think all of us, since Covid struck, we couldn’t wait for sports to be back,” says Lionel Lewis, who made 73 appearances for the Singapore national football team and won the AFF Suzuki Cup in 2004 and 2007 (taking home the MVP prize during the former).
“Fans help to spur players on and motivate them to do their best,” he continued. “It’s a big deal to host this event in Singapore in December. We want a great competition for all to witness. I also think this will be a very fair competition this year. Whatever teams show up on the day will get it done.”
Lewis believes that Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia are still the favorites, but says that the time off during the pandemic provides an opportunity for the other teams, like Singapore, to find their edge.
“We are playing at home which is a big advantage for us, and we will look to make the most of it,” said Tatsuma Yoshida, head coach of the Singapore national men’s team. “We will take each game one at a time but also always have the aim of playing in the final at the Singapore National Stadium. It is a month-long tournament and we want to play till the New Year, which would be a great way for us and our fellow Singaporeans to welcome 2022.”
Want to take your AFF Suzuki Cup experience to the next level during the games? There are a whole bundle of activities taking place over the course of the event at the OCBC Square at Singapore Sports Hub. Check out the Teqball National Series, with demonstrations from players, public free-to-play matches, and mens, womens, under-18 training, and open group stages and finals. Fancy yourself a gamer? Try your hand at virtual reality football. You can even get a chance to check out the national team photo booth and take pictures with national team flags. Street football will also take center stage outside the tournament. Check out Women Premier League Clubs battle it out in style, and take part in some public free-to-play matches yourself.
Don’t miss your chance to watch this year’s biggest sporting event live and in person at the National Stadium at Singapore Sports Hub in December until 1 January!
