Match fever back as Lions s-final tickets sell out

More than sixteen hours before the ticketing office at Jalan Besar Stadium opened its doors on Dec 22, Sheila Gustarisha and her son were already in line to get their hands on tickets to the Singapore-Vietnam clash.

- David Lee

In a scene reminiscent of Singapore's football fever days - in the 1970s to 1990s, early 2000s and 2010s - snaking queues were seen around the stadium on Dec 22, when tickets to the Asean Championship semi-final, first-leg clash between the hosts and Vietnam on Dec 26 went on sale.

A total of 5,375 tickets were sold out by 6.20pm, with scalpers attempting to resell them on online platforms soon after.

The first two fans in line, Gustarisha and her 24-year-old son Qash Adam Ng, began queueing at 7.30pm on Dec 21. Others came armed for the long wait with foldable chairs and snacks.

Gustarisha, 43, said: "We expected people to queue early when they announced details of the ticket sales."

Ng added: "So, we came extra early as we are die-hard fans and we want to support Singapore and see them win."

Earlier in the group stage, the Lions played at the 55,000-seater National Stadium, beating Cambodia 2-1 in front of 12,391 fans on Dec 11, and losing 4-2 to Thailand on Dec 17 before 22,611 fans.