'WE FOUGHT LIKE LIONS'

To celebrate one of the Singapore Lions' finest football moments, The Sunday Times gathers the Class of '94 to chart their historic feat, culminating with the Malaysia Cup victory at the Shah Alam Stadium.

- David Lee

A sea of red was what greeted Fandi Ahmad, Abbas Saad and their fellow Lions as they stepped into enemy territory at the 81,000-capacity Shah Alam Stadium on Dec 17, 1994.

Fifty thousand Singaporean fans had travelled by the busloads to cheer them on in their bid for a historic double.

Even three decades later, as Singapore marks the 30th anniversary of the Malaysia Cup and M-League win, the stars of that team still get goosebumps when they recall that moment in the stadium.

Then skipper Fandi, now 62, said: "Until today, I can still feel it. The whole team were shocked to see all the red flags and jerseys. We thought the stadium would be filled with Malaysian or Pahang fans, but instead it was like the whole of our Kallang National Stadium was in Shah Alam, can you imagine that?

"It inspired us even more to win for them. I told the team we have to fight and win, and we were like lions when we got on the pitch. We killed Pahang because we pressed them, we harassed them, we tackled and we fought very hard. We played the perfect game."

Playing their 41st game in a gruelling eight-month season, the Lions whipped Pahang 4-0 to lift the Cup in style for their first double after claiming the Malaysia league title in August.

Abbas was the irrepressible hat-trick hero, opening the scoring with a scissors kick in the 26th minute. He then connected with a square pass from Fandi eight minutes after the restart, before latching on to a V. Selvaraj long pass to score in the 65th minute. He even managed to assist Fandi a minute later for a fantastic fourth.

"That was one of the greatest and most amazing nights of my career, and I will never forget the roar and the noise when I looked around the stadium," said Abbas, 57, who is coach and head of football at New South Wales League One side Rydalmere Lions.