GOAL 2010
Goal 2010 was a goal and objective, set by then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong in 1998. It was an objective for the Singapore national football team to reach the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa, but the goal was not reached, and was laughed at in mid-2010, during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
"Look at the French World Cup football team. In the final against Brazil, I picked Zidane as the most outstanding French player. He is of Algerian descent. Of the 22-players, more than half did not look "French". They looked Argentinian, Armenian, Basque, Caribbean, Ghanaian, New Caledonian. Some were born in France, but of immigrant parents. Others are first generation French citizens. When they went up to receive their medals, President Chirac embraced all of them as Frenchmen. He sent a strong political signal for multi-racialism and against xenophobia: that in France, so long as you contribute to the French cause, it does not matter what colour your skin is or where you were born. Last year I told you Singapore would never have a chance in the World Cup, because the rules require all players to be citizens. But after watching the French victory, I have changed my mind. Maybe if we change our immigration criteria to bring in top football talent and make them citizens, then one day we too can get into the finals. In fact we intend to do just this, to bring in sports talent."
— Goh Chok Tong, National Day Rally 1998 Speech, commenting further on GOAL 2010
Read more about this topic: Football In Singapore
Famous quotes containing the word goal:
“The mind that has no fixed goal loses itself; for, as they say, to be everywhere is to be nowhere.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)