Alam Shah relishes second Sultan of Selangor’s Cup stint

SINGAPORE, 21 AUGUST 2018: Former Singapore international Noh Alam Shah is hungry to taste success in the Sultan of Selangor’s (SOS) Cup for a second consecutive year as he reprises his role of Team Manager for this year’s edition.

The 37-year-old was part of the backroom staff last year as Fandi Ahmad led the Singapore Selection to a 3-2 victory over their Selangor counterparts at the National Stadium, which hosted the SOS Cup for the first time.

This year, the 17th edition of the annual friendly competition will return to Shah Alam Stadium and Alam Shah is relishing the trip to the 80,372-capacity venue.

“It’s an honour for me to be Team Manager again, especially as it’s my second year and I am looking forward to it because it will be a much larger crowd this time,” the 80-cap ex-striker told the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) website.

“As for my role, I will be doing a lot of liaising with the FAS officials on the administrative end and making sure everything goes smoothly as planned, so the technical staff don’t have any issues.

“Apart from that, I will also be contributing in training sessions, so they can expect a lot from me on and off the field.”

The Singapore Selection squad will be headed by Balestier Khalsa FC Head Coach Marko Kraljevic for the first time, with the match set to kick off at 9pm on 25 August, Saturday.

A 21-man squad has been selected, with the players coming from across six different Great Eastern-Hyundai Singapore Premier League (SPL) clubs. Fourteen of them will be involved in the SOS Cup for the first time, while there are nine Under-23 players, in line with the SPL’s focus on youth development this season and Alam Shah is confident they can rise to the challenge.

“The SPL has established the U-23 rules and it’s good that the Coach has followed suit,” he said. “The younger ones are the ones I am looking forward to working with; they are the future of Singapore football, so (helping to) establish them is our main priority.

“They have no reason not to rise to (the occasion) if they want to become established players; it’s also part of my job to let them know what to expect. They will be playing in front of a 70,000 to 80,000-strong crowd and I will help them, and the experienced players will also offer their support.”

Albirex Niigata FC (S) and Singapore international midfielder Adam Swandi (second from left in image above) is also relishing the opportunity to play in the SOS Cup for the first time, describing it as an “honour”, as the Singapore Selection gun for a third straight triumph.

“It’s a very prestigious match and I bet all the players and coaches will treat it like a final even though it’s a friendly,” the 22-year-old said.

“Going to play at Shah Alam is a big thing for me as a player and I hope it’s going to be a memorable one.

“I am looking forward to winning the Cup, that’s on everybody’s minds; we will be going up and looking to play as one… I think the players named in the squad are really good and deserving, and I think we will be able to retain the title.”

Winning the 2018 edition will also see Singapore edge ahead of Selangor in the all-time trophy count, with each side having won the SOS Cup eight times and Alam Shah is fired up for the clash.

“Of course, I never go inside the field and say we will lose,” he smiled. “We will play an attacking brand of football and we do want to have a pleasant ride back home, so having the trophy with us for that trip will be great!”

Singapore Selection

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Singapore Under-16 Selection Team

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