National Team - Lions ● Feb 24, 2022
Lions to play Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Myanmar in Asian Cup qualifying final round
Ikhsan Fandi, 22 December 2021
SINGAPORE, 24 FEBRUARY 2022 – The Singapore Men’s National Team will take on the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Myanmar in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup China 2023™ Qualifiers Final Round this June.
The Lions were drawn into Group F earlier this afternoon during a virtual ceremony conducted by the AFC and the Kyrgyz Republic will serve as the centralised venue for all the matches in this third and final round for qualifying.
A single round-robin format will be utilised with matchdays on the 8th, 11th and 14th. Ranked 161st, the Lions are slated to play the hosts (96th), Tajikistan (115th) and Myanmar (152nd) respectively on those dates. The six group winners and five best second-placed teams will advance to the China 2023 Finals. They will join 12 teams that have already qualified, including hosts China PR.
Captain Hariss Harun is raring to go as the team attempts to qualify for the Asian Cup for only the second time, with the Lions’ sole appearance coming in 1984 as hosts.
“We know what is at stake and we just have to go there and compete,” he told FAS.org.sg. “We have to forget everything we know about the rankings; all the teams in the group are of a certain calibre and will also be battling to qualify. We know teams like the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan are physical but we showed before in the previous round that we can compete against Central Asian opponents, so we have to turn up and show what we can do.
“We are all looking forward to resuming competitive action in June as the stakes are high and we have not qualified for a long time. The matches will come thick and fast; the most important thing is to have a top mentality and give it our best shot. It will be huge for Singapore football if we can pull it off and we have to try and push ourselves.”
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