Earning Their Stripes
It would be a proud day for Grilled Birds and their Chicken Wings academy, as
Chia Kwang Tse and
Chad Thach made their debuts for the national youth side, in a 1-0 victory over Jamaica in the first match of the U21 Nations Cup. Frielas 2019's Goo Chuan Ah had picked up a thing or two in Portugal, from how he catapulted Singapore ahead in the second minute from a wondrous free-kick, which turned out to be the decisive and only goal for the day.
Chia would have cause to regret missing a perfectly convertible chance in the 27th minute, when he nosed ahead of defender Roger Allen to meet Teow Kim Wan's cross, only to glance his header harmlessly wide. He would then be subbed off in the 65th minute for Marcellus team's Caleb Le, while
Chad Thach stayed on in central midfield to pick up a yellow card after 81 minutes, for a messy challenge on Kurt Fisher as he threatened to break away.
Both youngsters pronounced it a very satisfactory international debut nonetheless. "A win is a win." an euphoric Thach insisted as he trudged off at the final whistle, soaked to the bone. "I'm not asking for more now."
