SINGAPORE - An age restriction rule tweak has given him more options, but national Under-22 football coach Fandi Ahmad stressed his priority is to develop the current crop under him as they attempt to win Singapore’s first SEA Games gold.
The football tournament became exclusively an U-23 event in 2001 and this was lowered to U-22 for the 2017 edition in Kuala Lumpur.
But this year’s host, the Philippines, has adjusted the criteria to allow the 11 countries to include two overaged players for the Nov 30-Dec 11 Games.Â
This directive was recently communicated to the Football Association of Singapore through the Singapore National Olympic Council.
While Fandi could draft senior Lions like national captain Hariss Harun (age 28), forward Faris Ramli (26) or veteran goalkeeper Hassan Sunny (35), he said that with more than seven months to go, he has yet to decide which, if any, areas need strengthening.
“Very importantly, we need players who can understand the way we want to play, how we defend and attack,†said Fandi, 56.
“Everything is still open, and we don’t really see an area that is weakest or strongest (in the U-22 team) at this point.â€
His immediate focus, he added, was to raise the levels of his Young Lions team, who beat Hougang United last Sunday for their first win of this season’s Singapore Premier League.
Â
Last month, Fandi’s U-22 charges also participated in the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship qualifiers and produced some encouraging performances. They beat Mongolia and drew with North Korea and Hong Kong to finish second in their group, although it was not enough to secure qualification for next year’s finals in Thailand.
Over 29 editions of the biennial SEA Games, the Republic’s best showing in football are three silvers in 1983, 1985 and 1989 – all of which Fandi featured as chief goal-getter.
Regarding the new overage rule, Fandi also cautioned against over-emphasising its importance.
Not only could the organisers decide to scrap it at the last minute, he might also not get the players he wants, citing past scenarios involving the Asian Games.
Its football tournament switched to an U-23 category in 2002 – with teams allowed three overaged players – but, like the SEA Games, both competitions are not sanctioned by world governing body Fifa.Â
This means it is not compulsory for professional clubs to release their players for the Games.
At the 2014 Incheon Asiad, then Singapore coach Aide Iskandar took senior players Hassan, Baihakki Khaizan and Afiq Yunos to South Korea.
Afiq was a third-choice pick after key midfielders Hariss and Shahdan Sulaiman were not released by their clubs.
The presence of seasoned pros among young players can be a boost, noted national midfielder M. Anumanthan, who was an U-23 player in Incheon.
The 24-year-old said: “They (Hassan and Baihakki) brought maturity and stability to the team.
"They used their knowledge and experience to teach us how to deal with moments of pressure and uncertainty.â€
This page contains the Peer review requests that are older than one month, have received no response in the last two weeks, are not signed, have become featured article or featured list candidates, or did not follow the "How to use this page" principles in some way.
The Nanyang Chronicle Vol 24 Issue 03 by Nanyang Chronicle
Malaysia Football News Anything and everything about football in Malaysia ! Pages. Home; History; National Team; Malaysian League; Famous Players
Wikipedia:Peer review/January 2012 - Wikipedia
2011 SEA GAMES Our U-23 team, which includes 16 players from the 2009 SEA Games bronze-winning team, has begun its preparations for the SEA Games in Palembang, Indonesia, where our target is to qualify for the final having won the bronze medal in 2007 & 2009.
Malaysia Super League | Usapang Football | Philippine
usapangfootball.proboards.com/thread/1804/malaysia-super-league?page=13
He went on to add that the local players are too comfortable playing in the Malaysia Super League, "They get comfortable and do not want to leave the comfort zone of the Malaysia Super League." On the current trend of high wages being paid to our football stars, Hardy believes that it is arresting their ambition to further their career abroad.
Malaysia Football News: 2011 - blogspot.com
THE NANYANG. CHRONICLE. VOL. NO. 24. 03 16.10.17. ISSN NO. 0218-7310. Taking IKEA by Strรถm. Students play to their beat. In defense of millennials. Students from the School of Art, Design and
Mitra - Find link - edwardbetts.com
edwardbetts.com/find_link/Mitra
Sombhu Mitra (989 words) exact match in snippet view article find links to article Sombhu Mitra (22 August 1915 - 19 May 1997) was an Indian film and stage actor, director, playwright, reciter and an Indian theatre personality, known
Malaysia | Thoughts of a Cynical Investor | Page 2
Football: Fandi Ahmad coy on SEA Games rule of two overaged
Singapore is an alpha World City.Singapore is unique as it is the only country in Asia which has English as its first language. Singapore also has one of the highest percentage of foreigners in the world. 36% of the population in Singapore are foreigners and foreigners make up 50% of the service sector in Singapore.
NewspaperSG - The Straits Times, 11 April 1993
eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Issue/straitstimes19930411
MRT may bring crowds to new river attractions Sandra Pearce Authority could be set up to run this unique' project, Dr Hu tells dialogue session By A MASS Rapid Transit station may be built m the New Bridge Road and Merchant Road area to bring more people to the varied
[A] pictute of banks working side-by-side with 1MDB as it accumulated worrying levels of debt and became the subject of growing controversy which, in the words of the Swiss financial regulator, looks like a case of "blatant and massive corruption". U.S. authorities have asked the banks to provide details of their dealings with the fund.
Singapore - The Full Wiki
Football: Fandi Ahmad coy on SEA Games rule of two overaged players as he focuses on improving U-22 side we need players who can understand the way we want to play, how we defend and attack
Singapore Football : No.1 Source for SG Football Compilation
No comments:
Post a Comment