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According to this report, our Singapore Cub Ammirul Mazlan has apparently caught the eye of Werder Bremen president Wilfried Lemke who was here to watch the Youth Olympic Games. Scoring Singapore’s opener in just 10 seconds against Zimbabwe, he went on to make such an impact that Herr Lemke, also the Special Advisor for the UN Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace, requested video footage of the Hong Kah Secondary School student in action.

I caught most of that match from a 25th floor of a HDB apartment block, and had to deal with a restricted view – no corners, and all the goals obscured by trees – until a kind resident who lived next to where I was watching and tweeting the match came back, saw me there, and invited me into his house to see the full view from his window for the last 10 minutes or so.

I can’t say what’s so special about Ammirul that Werder would want to sign him, but that’s not his fault. Firstly, in front of the Singapore team, it’s hard for me to be objective during the match, secondly, the entire team was so good, I couldn’t tell who was outstanding, and thirdly, they were so small from my point of view, I could hardly make out the numbers on their backs even with my camera’s zoom lens.

It’s good to know, though, that Ammirul has his head upon his shoulders. He told Mediacorp, “I’m speechless. Winning a bronze medal was good enough for me … I didn’t know anyone from Bremen was there and even though nothing may come out of this, it’s still nice to be recognised.”

Let’s not make any more out of this than there should be. The kid is just 15, after all. But we’ll see what comes of sending the tapes to Bremen, whatever tapes can be produced on such short notice. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that more of our local talent gets noticed overseas, because as my friends have known, I’ve complained quite a bit that Singaporeans are stingy with appreciation.

It may seem that we sometimes only appreciate talent that has made it big elsewhere and come back (eg. Corinne May, Vanessa Mae, Tanya Chua, Stefanie Sun, JJ Lin, et al.), but of course we have our local kings and queens of Mediacorp (eg. Zoe Tay, Zhu Houren, Jeannette Aw, Li Nanxing, et al.) who haven’t had to leave our shores to garner their huge followings overseas.

We have talent, in spades. Let’s not shovel them overseas, because that might just dig us into a hole we can never get out of. OK, bad extension on the metaphor.

The Cubs at the Youth Olympic Games have won two out of their two matches thus far, scoring three goals each time. Not only did they pick up full points, Singapore have also played excellent football, keeping their heads up even when faced with physical disadvantages or having gone behind. The boys have certainly put their seniors to shame, maintaining their composure and sticking to their disciplined game much more strictly than the national team, which has resorted to hopeful long balls up the pitch despite having the talent to push the ball around on the ground.

They have also fed off the capacity crowds at the Jalan Besar Stadium, unlike a former coach of the national team, who has even used spectator stress as an excuse for poor performance. To be fair, a filled National Stadium holds 10 times as many fans as Jalan Besar can accommodate, and the atmosphere is something to be experienced. And neither stadium has seen full houses in a while, with the inferior quality of football compared to that of, say, European Champions League or World Cup matches available on TV, being floated now and again as a reason for poor attendances.

More so than quality on the pitch, prestige of the match in question has always been a big drawing factor for Singaporeans. I noticed this while watching the Asean Championships in 2007. Singapore’s draws with Vietnam and Indonesia were never watched by more than 20,000 spectators, and the 11-0 drubbing of minnows Laos had only 5,224 paying witnesses. Perhaps it was because the win was expected.

But the sold-out terraces for the semi-final against our arch-rivals north of the border Malaysia and the final against their northern neighbours Thailand showed that Singaporeans would make time for their team, provided the occasion was big enough. Likewise, the friendly matches against Brazil, Australia and Liverpool drew the crowds, though it was questionable who they were there to support.

Looking at the positive side of things, if we keep up the standard of play, fans will have fewer excuses to stay away from the stands. As it is, S.League teams cannot make a living based only on gate receipts, and have to rely on sponsors to survive.

The S.League teams have had 15 years to build a fan base for themselves. Some have done this very well, like Geylang, Tampines, SAF, Home and Woodlands. Some have had to merge to survive, like Balestier Khalsa and Sengkang Punggol. Others have fallen by the wayside due to financial or administrative troubles, like Jurong, Sembawang and Tanjong Pagar. Still others have succumbed to mischief off the pitch, like Sinchi, Liaoning, Sporting and Dalian.

How long, then, does it take for a club to settle down in a district and grow its supporter base? When will Singapore fans learn to cheer for their team and stick to one through thick and thin, or will we never do so?