Singapore: English footballer Jermaine Pennant fired a parting shot as he left his Singapore club, saying even Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi couldn’t lift the moribund S-League. The former Arsenal and Liverpool winger, 33, made the comment as he departs Tampines Rovers after just nine months in the nine-team Singapore league. “No matter who you get, you could bring Messi here, yes, you’d attract fans but without money, and the government and the league helping out like they do with other sports, or what they do in other countries, it’s not going to grow,” he told the Straits Times newspaper. “If they don’t do anything, football is always going to be in a comfort zone, not progressing.”