Stags' Chew stars online but can't wait for SPL restart

Tampines Rovers midfielder Joel Chew misses the adrenalin and camaraderie of being a professional footballer.

With the coronavirus pandemic shutting down the Singapore Premier League (SPL) since March 24, he has been stuck at home feeling restless.

A silver lining has come in the form of his selection by the Football Association of Singapore to represent the country in the Stay And Play Asian Series 2020 and he is thriving in the world of e-sports.

He and Amraan Gani, a Team Flash professional e-sports player, have won their first four matches combined against Chinese Taipei and Malaysia in the round-robin Fifa20 tournament.

Last night, Chew beat English Premier League winner and Japan striker Shinji Okazaki 4-0 while Amraan drew 0-0 with Aoki "Web Nasri" Taichi, a representative of the Japan Football Association's eFootball national team.

The result meant the Singaporean duo finished first in the quadrangular, organised by the four federations after the last-minute cancellation of the inaugural Fifa eNations Stay And Play Cup, part of a global initiative between EA Sports and world governing body Fifa to entertain fans during the Covid-19 outbreak.

For Chew, 20, it has been an eye-opening experience.

While no stranger to console games - he was seven when he started playing Fifa on the PlayStation Portable and spends about seven hours a week playing the latest version - there were some stressful moments.

In his first game against Chinese Taipei's Benson Lin, Chew conceded first before recovering to win 4-2.

He said: "I panicked a little, but I knew I could score and I did."

He racked up the goals in his second game, thrashing Johor Darul Takzim star and Malaysian international Safawi Rasid 6-0.

That led to some grumbles and online banter from Malaysian fans which Chew jokingly brushed off.

The Manchester United fan was quick to add that, while this past week has been a good distraction, he was keen to get back onto a real football field.

That locker room spirit was hard to replicate in a virtual world, he said.

"There are 10 other players you can trust on the field but when you play online, you only have yourself," he noted.

Last year was his debut season as a professional and it was a memorable one with the Stags.

He scored in the Singapore Cup final as Tampines beat Warriors FC 4-3 and that first trophy has whetted his appetite for more silverware.

Tampines are top of the SPL with nine points from four games and already look like serious title contenders.

Chew said: "I can't wait for the season to restart. I just miss playing football."