SINGAPORE, 15 APRIL 2015: Singapore will take on Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia and the Philippines in the group stages of the 28^th South-east Asian Games’ football tournament, which will take place next month.

The Young Lions’ opponents were decided today at the official draw for the Under-23 tournament which was held at the Singapore Sports Hub. One of the two seeded teams of the competition because of its status as SEA Games hosts, the Republic opted to be in Group A which will feature five teams.

Defending champions Thailand, the other seeded side, were placed in Group B where they will face Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, Brunei and Timor Leste.

Singapore were bronze medallists at the 2013 SEA Games, after losing 1-0 to Thailand in the semi-finals, and beating then-defending champions Malaysia 2-1 in the play-off for third place. Indonesia finished second after losing 0-1 to Thailand in the final.

Cambodia and Myanmar did not advance from the group stages two years ago while the Philippines did not participate in the football tournament then.

Young Lions Head Coach Aide Iskandar said he was happy with the draw but added that his team will not underestimate any of their opponents. “While Group B appears to be the tougher group, we must remember that there are no minnows in South-east Asian football these days,” he said.

“Many of our neighbours have made a lot of progress in recent years, and that is why we will not be underestimating any team.

“We want to start the tournament well as it will give us confidence for the following matches, so our main focus is on the first match. We want to get our campaign off to a good start, and build on that momentum. We are now in the next phase of our preparations. I have trimmed the squad down to 30 players, and we have begun intensifying our training.”

The football tournament will begin on 29 May, a week before the opening ceremony of the SEA Games (5-16 June). The top two teams in each group will progress to the semi-finals, which will be played on 13 June. The final will be held on 15 June. All three matches will be played at the National Stadium.

The fixture schedule for the group stages will be announced in due course. Tickets for the SEA Games 2015 football matches will go on sale at 10am on 6 May 2015, and will be available fromwww.seagames2015.com.

Under-23 National Team – 30-player Shortlist

S/N	NAME	POSITION	CLUB
1	Syazwan Buhari	GK	Courts Young Lions
2	Fashah Iskandar	GK	Courts Young Lions
3	Rudy Khairullah	GK	Courts Young Lions
4	Shakir Hamzah	DF	Courts Young Lions
5	Al-Qaasimy Rahman	DF	Courts Young Lions
6	Sheikh Abdul Hadi	DF	Courts Young Lions
7	Fadli Kamis	DF	Courts Young Lions
8	Amirul Adli	DF	Courts Young Lions
9	Irfan Fandi	DF	Courts Young Lions
10	Taufiq Muqminin	DF	Courts Young Lions
11	Zakir Samsudin	DF	LionsXII
12	Nurullah Hussein	DF	Balestier Khalsa
13	Ho Wai Loon	DF	Balestier Khalsa
14	Faris Ramli	MF	LionsXII
15	Safirul Sulaiman	MF	Courts Young Lions
16	Stanely Ng	MF	Home United
17	Anumanthan Mohan Kumar	MF	Courts Young Lions
18	Shamil Sharif	MF	Courts Young Lions
19	Adam Swandi	MF	Courts Young Lions
20	Muhaimin Suhaimi	MF	Home United
21	Shameer Aziq	MF	Courts Young Lions
22	Afiq Mat Noor	MF	Courts Young Lions
23	Christopher Van Huizen	MF	LionsXII
24	Suria Prakash	MF	Courts Young Lions
25	Pravin Guanasagaran	MF	Courts Young Lions
26	Shahfiq Ghani	FW	Courts Young Lions
27	Sahil Suhaimi	FW	LionsXII
28	Iqbal Hussain	FW	Courts Young Lions
29	Amy Recha Pristifana	FW	Courts Young Lions
30	Taufik Suparno	FW	Tampines Rovers

 

 

 

CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION OF SINGAPORE