National Teams – Age-group ● Apr 20, 2023
Singapore to host AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers
23 players set to represent the country on home soil in their first international competition of the year
Coach Falida Aikaterini with the team during a recent training session, 11 April 2023.
SINGAPORE, 20 APRIL 2023 – The Under-16 Women’s National Team will begin their AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup Indonesia 2024 Qualifiers campaign here in Singapore next week.
The young Lionesses have been drawn into Group D for the regional tournament, where they will first face Turkmenistan on 28 April before playing against Bangladesh two days later at Jalan Besar Stadium. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has withdrawn from the tournament.
Head Coach Falida Aikaterini has named a 23-player squad, consisting of players who were selected through their performances in last month’s JENSYS 2022 Japan-ASEAN Under-17 Women Football Tournament, and their respective clubs during last season’s Deloitte Women’s Premier League (WPL), as well as Women’s National League (WNL).
Four players – Anna Vaswani, Mulan Ayliffe, Nisreen Aziz and Syarifah Nur Amanina – will be representing Singapore for the first time at the age group level. Notably, defender Irsalina Irwan has also been added to the squad, being the only player to have already earned three caps for the national senior women’s team.
Coach Falida is optimistic that the team has the range and capabilities needed to go up against their opponents despite the lack of opportunities in playing internationally: “The team has been training for the last three months, with the focus on developing their physical and mental strengths, as well as their technical and tactical capabilities. In addition, the girls displayed an impressive performance at the JENESYS tournament last month, standing in fourth place, behind strong teams like Thailand and Japan.
“While the qualifiers may be the team’s first international competitive tournament, I believe the talent and resilience of the girls will shine through even in the face of tough opponents such as Bangladesh and Turkmenistan. This tournament will also be a great platform for them to build experience and identify areas of improvement we can work on individually and as a team. On that note, I hope to see Singaporeans come down to the stadium and support our young Lionesses in this historic event.”
Ticket sales for all matches of the AFC U-17 Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers will commence on Friday, 21 April 2023and can be purchased via the FAS website (https://www.fas.org.sg/tickets/) from 10am.
The AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup will be held in Indonesia next year. A total of eight teams will play in the competition, alongside the top three teams from the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship Thailand 2019 – champions Japan, DPR Korea and China PR – and hosts Indonesia.
Singapore’s only previous involvement at the tournament came in the inaugural edition in 2005, when it was still known as the AFC U-17 Women’s Championship.
Singapore Under-16 Women’s National Team Squad for AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers
| S/N | Name | Pos | DOB | School | Club |
| 1 | Alysha Nasrina | GK | 23-Oct-07 | Meridian Secondary School | Tampines Rovers FC |
| 2 | Nurul Illyanis | GK | 27-Jan-07 | Tampines Secondary School | – |
| 3 | Izairida Shakira | GK | 2-Jun-07 | Jurongville Secondary School | Lion City Sailors FC |
| 4 | Anna Vaswani | DF | 21-Mar-08 | Meridian Secondary School | – |
| 5 | Ardhra Ganeswaran | DF | 25-July-07 | Fairfield Methodist School (Secondary) | Lion City Sailors FC |
| 6 | Irsalina Irwan | DF | 1-Jan-07 | ITE College West | Albirex Niigata FC (S) |
| 7 | Nadila Nur Danisha | DF | 28-Apr-08 | Woodlands Secondary School | Tanjong Pagar United FC |
| 8 | Nurul Aqilah | DF | 24-Jan-08 | Bowen Secondary School | JSSL FC |
| 9 | Qarissa Putri Ramadhani | DF | 24-Sep-08 | Queensway Secondary School | Tanjong Pagar United FC |
| 10 | Seri Nurinsyirah | DF | 21-Sep-09 | Singapore Sports School | Lion City Sailors FC |
| 11 | Tia Foong | DF | 31-Jul-07 | Bedok South Secondary School | Lion City Sailors FC |
| 12 | Yasmine Zaharin | DF | 19-Mar-07 | Cedar Girls’ Secondary School | Geylang International FC |
| 13 | Yuvika Suresh | DF | 1-Mar-09 | Cedar Girls’ Secondary School | Lion City Sailors FC |
| 14 | Cara Chang | MF | 28-Nov-08 | Tanglin Trust School | Lion City Sailors FC |
| 15 | Charlotte Chong | MF | 3-Jan-07 | Queensway Secondary School | Geylang International FC |
| 16 | Mulan Ayliffe | MF | 10-May-08 | National Junior College | Turf City Academy |
| 17 | Liyana Rickit | MF | 14-Oct-09 | Meridian Secondary School | Lion City Sailors FC |
| 18 | Madelin Lock (Ruiyi) | MF | 24-May-07 | Chung Cheng High School (Main) | Lion City Sailors FC |
| 19 | Nisreen Aziz | MF | 24-Mar-08 | Meridian Secondary School | ESA Academy |
| 20 | Natasha Naszri | MF | 19-Dec-07 | Bowen Secondary School | Lion City Sailors FC |
| 21 | Chloe Koh | FW | 18-Feb-07 | Methodist Girls’ School | Lion City Sailors FC |
| 22 | Nahwah Aidilreza | FW | 4-May-07 | Queensway Secondary School | Tampines Rovers FC |
| 23 | Sharifah Nur Amanina | FW | 8-Jan-08 | Singapore Cricket Club | Tampines Secondary School |
Fixtures at the AFC Under-17 Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers
| Match | Date | Time | Venue |
| Turkmenistan vs Bangladesh | Wednesday, 26 April 2023 | 8pm |
Jalan Besar Stadium |
| Singapore vs Turkmenistan | Friday, 28 April 2023 | 8pm | |
| Bangladesh vs Singapore | Sunday, 30 April 2023 | 8pm |
