Here's hoping the LionsXII kick off with a roar

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The grizzled ones and even the great ones toss and turn in bed the night before a landmark game.

There is always the fear of failure, the noise of the body's busy adrenaline pump hums incessantly in the ears, images of what to do out on the pitch flash through the mind like a dream being streamed.

The heartbeat booms.

I am sure many among the 29-man LionsXII squad would have struggled to sleep last night.

Already mainstays in the Singapore first XI, players like Shahril Ishak and Hariss Harun have been in the trenches regularly battling ASEAN rivals, they have had to step it up on the World Cup qualifying stage but, even for them, tonight will be different.

When V Sundramoorthy's players walk out onto the Jalan Besar Stadium turf for their opening Malaysian Super League (MSL) match against Kelantan, they will be following in the footsteps of Fandi and Kim Song, Zainal Abidin and Pathmanathan, Malek Awab and Robert Sim.

The target for the LionsXII is to finish in the top five of the MSL. They also have to reach the final of at least one Cup competition - the Malaysia Cup or the Malaysian FA Cup.

Perhaps the LionsXII's biggest task is the one not written down.

Starting tonight, they must start to blow wind in the sails of Singapore football.

When Fandi and Kim Song were in their pomp, football was an inextricable part of Singapore life.

The Lions were kings, English giants like Manchester United and Liverpool could only be caught "live" on TV occasionally.

Today, in an environment with so many other distractions, local football faces tremendous odds to attract eyeballs.

Footballers in Singapore struggle to become heroes, the S-League - the country's production line for talent for the national team - is suffering.

The LionsXII can revive the passion for local football, their performances in Alor Star, Kota Kinabalu and Jalan Besar can resurrect the type of chatter commonplace in coffeeshops and dining tables all over the country from the 1970s through to the mid-90s.

When captain Shahril leads the team out tonight, the ghosts of "Uncle Choo" and Dollah Kassim may well be with them.

As the older Singapore fans cast their eyes on Kelantan's Norshahrul Idlan Talaha, Indra Putra Mahiyuddin and Khairul Fahmie Che Mat, perhaps they will be reminded of the late Bakar brothers of Penang and Selangor's goalkeeping legend, R Arumugam.

The memory of arguably the greatest player of them all, Selangor's Mokhtar Dahari, will surely flash across their minds.

After 17 years, a band of Singaporeans are about to return to compete in Malaysia's domestic football competitions.

I hope they will start a roar.