Hidde Out Of Hiding
Aznan Noor Yadah's successor took four days to arrive after the Malay favourite flew to Sweden, and gave detractors of embattled coach
Luis Alcántara little ammunition - for he turned out to be Holland's U-20 international
Hidde van Liere.
van Liere, who has seven caps for his country, scored in the Netherlands' 5-0 thrashing of Serbia and Montenegro and their 5-2 win against Spain, and started against Germany, the Czech Republic, Belgium and Poland. It is no secret that his proudest moment was coming on as a substitute in the U-20 World Cup against FYR Macedonia.
Neither is it unknown, however, that Hidde has been languishing in bad form for previous side Sibiu Superstars, who were persuaded with the prospect of a fast S$3 million-plus turnover to sell to Grilled for the princely sum of S$13.9 million. Hidde was even asked to wear the number seven shirt for Sibiu in an effort to change his fortunes, to no avail as the underperforming winger exited the U-20 first team.
Alcántara and his assistants were convinced of something shining under his current drab outwardly appearance, as they inferred that much of his woes had their roots in his unsatisfactory base fitness level. "Hidde is as natural a dribble merchant as we have seen in this land," Alcántara professed. "We viewed some tapes of his games, and were shocked that he put in creditable performances without ever exerting himself. Our focus on playmaking, coupled with the passing and stamina exercises we will conduct in the off-season, are a perfect fit for him. It's a marriage made in heaven."
Excited fans feted Grilled's first international and assented that he was one for the future. The pessimistic however were quick to remind that without good current performances, there would be no future. "By the end of next season I'm sure we'll see the full range of the wonderkid's stepovers," business executive Bay Meng-Low said. "But by then will it be too late? We're struggling to keep our heads above water at the moment, and what we need now is a guy who can dive right in and fix it up."
Club officials revealed that Grilled had sought to dispel their reputation of being miserly by making a statement that they were ready to spend to be recognised as one of Singapore's premier club sides. "It has come to a point where we need to demonstrate out clout in order to maintain our status," an unnamed board member said.
Those close to the top let it out that Hidde was probably not Alcántara's first choice, with Thai Sanpetch Chuanchen, Chilean Ignacio Rivera and Mexican Clemente Lara, all with international experience, under heavy consideration. It was heavily rumoured that Grilled had approached AC Sätra Äng for Lithuanian national regular Egidijus Ramelis, but were ousted by eventual buyers Tori United.
Most interesting perhaps was the rumour that Grilled were minutes from signing English U-20 winger Ruel Bernard for a bargain fee, but were let down by an administrative error. It must be noted that all such claims are hotly disputed by the official hierarchy.
Hidde himself was unpertubed, taking time after the medical examination to pay a visit to fellow Singapore-based U-20 national team member Thom Hellebrekers, who plies his trade at soon-to-be-promoted Division Three side U DuN NeEd To KnOw.
