One In A Billion

Good to know that Singapore's young football star Adam Swandi has chosen Metz over supposedly swankier clubs such as Atletico Madrid and Ajax Amsterdam to start his youth football career. I understand that 17-year old playmaker Adam, a product of the Singapore Sports School, is close to inking a 2-year youth contract with the club. This is just great news for Singapore. A small country, now with a professional youth player in a top European league. Brilliant.

What's equally satisfying are the reasons stated by Adam for why he chose Metz: they seemed a perfect place for youth talent to develop and flourish in. The boys there are so professional: they don't eat fast food (I've failed on that one), they go to the gym in their own time, they go back home straight after training to get the sufficient rest, and they don't party like it's 1969. Impressive. Our boy's certainly got the right attitude there. It's a billion to one shot to make it as a professional football player. You've got to embrace all the help you can get.

Good to know too, that Adam's parents seem to be supporting him all the way. I understand they are moving with him all the way to France, which is an excellent move. It will help him settle over there with his family; don't forget, he' just a 17-year old boy, so settling down in a strange, foreign land may not be all that easy. There are things like the culture, the environment, the food and the language to contend with. But they are willing to go through all this re-location & hassle for that one chance at stardom for their son. Excellent indeed.

It seems to me that Singapore football has got the talent. You can see from the Under-16 and Under-15 players at the Lion City Cup that we are certainly good enough to shine on the world stage, even when competing against the likes of Juventus, Liverpool and Everton. Even if we're a small country, we have got the footballing passion and talent to produce some big stars. Hey, if Denmark can do it, so can we. All we need, I think, is the money to follow it through.