Singapore national football team
| Shirt badge/Association crest | |||
| Nickname(s) | The Lions | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Football Association of Singapore | ||
| Confederation | AFC (Asia) | ||
| Head coach |  Radojko Avramovic (2003-) | ||
| Captain | Aide Iskandar (2003-) | ||
| Most caps | Malik Awab (123 Caps) | ||
| Top scorer | Fandi Ahmad (55 Goals) | ||
| Home stadium | National Stadium, Singapore | ||
| FIFA code | SIN | ||
| |||
| FIFA ranking | |||
| Current | 134 | ||
| Highest | 73 (August 1993) | ||
| Lowest | 138 (September 2007) | ||
| First international | |||
 Singapore 2 - 3 South Korea  (Singapore; April 11, 1953) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Singapore 11 - 0 Laos  (Singapore; January 15, 2007) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 Burma 9 - 0 Singapore (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; November 9, 1969) | |||
| Appearances | (first in -) | ||
| Best result | - | ||
| AFC Asian Cup | |||
| Appearances | 1 (first in 1984) | ||
| Best result | Round 1, 1984 | ||
The Singapore national football team is the national football (soccer) team of Singapore. The team comes under the organisation of the Football Association of Singapore (FAS).
To date, the most significant successes of the team have come in the regional ASEAN Football Championship (formerly known as the 'Tiger Cup'), which Singapore has won three times in 1998, 2005 and 2007. In 1998, Singapore beat Vietnam 1-0 in the final to capture the country's first major international football title. In the 2004-5 competition, Singapore defeated Indonesia in a two-leg final 5-2 on aggregate. Singapore successfully retained the trophy in 2007, beating Thailand 3-2 on aggregate in the final.
Although Singapore is widely regarded as a minnow in the international footballing arena, the national team has ground out quite a few upset results and have made it hard for many away teams in recent years. In the 2007 Asian Cup qualifiers, for example, Singapore became the only team to beat Iraq enroute to their Asian Cup winning campaign. Singapore and also drew with China 0-0 at home in 2006. China also narrowly escaped with a 1-0 victory in Tianjin thanks to a last minute penalty. Japan, Uruguay, Denmark and Saudi Arabia have also come away with narrow 2-1 wins in recent times. In September 2007, Singapore almost took the scalp of Gulf Cup champions, UAE but a late equaliser prevented a win for the Lions.
In the FIFA World Rankings, Singapore is currently the number 4 ranked Southeast Asian team behind Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia, and the number 21 in Asia (as of September 2007). Singapore was tagged as the Asian Football Confederation's 'Mover of the Year' in 2005.
In January 2007, Singapore achieved a national record 11-0 win against Laos in an ASEAN Football Championship match against. Mohd Noh Alam Shah scored 7 goals in the match.
Singapore's main rival on the international stage is their geographical neighbour, Malaysia, and past matches between these two teams have produced much drama.
All of the players in the Singapore national football team currently play for club teams in Singapore's top professional league, the S.League.
In recent years, Singapore has included several naturalised citizens in its team. Notable foreign-born citizens who play for Singapore include Egmar Goncalves from Brazil; Mirko Grabovac from Croatia; Daniel Bennett and John Wilkinson from England; Shi Jiayi from China; Mustafic Fahrudin from Serbia and Precious Emuejeraye, Agu Casmir and Itimi Dickson from Nigeria.
Last and next games
- Past games
- Singapore 1-1 
United Arab Emirates, Friendly, 12 September 2007 Singapore
(John Wilkinson 39min)
- Singapore 0-3 
Australia, Friendly, 30 June 2007 ,Singapore
- Singapore 1-2 
Saudi Arabia, Friendly, 27 June 2007 Singapore
(Ashrin Shariff 90min)
- Singapore 2-1 
North Korea, Friendly, 24 June Singapore
(Ridhuan Muhammad 40min, Indra Sahdan 74min)
- 
Thailand 1-1 Singapore, ASEAN Football Championship Final 2nd Leg, 4 February 2007 Bangkok
(Khairul Amri 81min)
- Singapore 2-1 Thailand, ASEAN Football Championship Final 1st Leg, 27 June 2007 Singapore
(Noh Alam Shah 17min, Mustafic Fahrudin 90min)
- Next games
- 
Bahrain vs Singapore Friendly October 2, 2007, Manama, Bahrain
- 
Palestine vs Singapore World Cup 2010 Qualifying October 8, 2007, Doha, Qatar
- Singapore vs Palestine World Cup 2010 Qualifying October 28, 2007, Singapore
History
1921 - 1994
Between 1921 and 1994, the Football Association of Singapore entered a representative side in the Malaysia Cup and the Malaysian League. While this was not the national team per se – and in 1980s and 1990s this team included some foreign players as permitted by Malaysian League rules – many Singapore football fans viewed the Malaysia Cup side as being the national team, and the team's exploits in the Malaysian competitions generally drew much more attention than Singapore's participation in other international tournaments. Up to 1994, Singapore won 24 Malaysia Cup titles and 2 Malaysian League titles.
After winning the Malaysia Cup and league double in 1994, the Football Association of Singapore withdrew from the Malaysian competitions following a dispute with the Football Association of Malaysia over gate receipts, and have not been involved since. Singapore subsequently launched its own professional league, the S.League, in 1996, and also began to put much more focus on the performance of it's national team in international competitions.
1995 - 1999
With the local footabll scene still suffering from Malaysia Cup hangover, Singapore won the bronze medal in the 1995 Southeast Asian Games, after crashing out in the semi-finals 1-0 to the hosts and eventual gold medallists, Thailand.
The national team then produced some uninspiring results as they crashed out in the group stages of the 1996 Tiger Cup, which Singapore hosted.
The national team continued their jinx of missing out on the gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games in 1997, losing in the semi-finals again to Indonesia. This time they also missed out on the bronze medal, when they lost out to Vietnam 1-0 in the third-placing match.
However in the 1998 edition of the Tiger Cup, against all odds, Singapore's team led by coach Barry Whitbread stormed through the group stages with victories over Malaysia and the Philippines. In the sem-finals, they beat Indonesia and subsequently edged out hosts Vietnam 1-0 in the final. This was the country's first ever international title.
2000 - 2002
Jan B. Poulsen who was part of the Danish backroom staff in the 1998 World Cup, was appointed the Technical Director of the Football Association of Singapore in 1999. However, due to poor results by Singapore in the 2000 Tiger Cup, coach Vincent Subramaniam was sacked and Poulsen took over as coach in 2001.
2 points out of a possible 18 in the World Cup 2002 qualifiers meant that Poulsen had to deliver in the 2002 Tiger Cup, which was to be held at home, in order to keep his job.
On 18 December 2002, Singapore faced arch-rivals Malaysia in their first game of the Tiger Cup. 40,000 home supporters watched in horror as Singapore crashed 4-0 to their northern neighbours. To this day, the loss remains a major stain on Singapore's international results. Singapore went on to win 2-1 over Laos, but a 1-1 draw in the final group game against Thailand wasn't enough to book a place in the knock-out stages.
Poulsen was sacked following the premature exit of the team from the tournament.
2003 - present
Radojko Avramovic took over as coach of the flailing and deflated Singapore national football team in 2003.
A string of wins in friendlies and a narrow 2-1 loss at home against Japan were signs of the brighter future for Singapore under Avramovic.
Singapore started the 2004 Tiger Cup as underdogs. Many brushed off the team's chances of even making it to the knockout stages. However, a hard-fought 1-1 draw in their first game against hosts Vietnam showed that Singapore meant business. Another draw against Indonesia meant that Singapore needed only to win against minnows Cambodia and Laos to make it to the semi-finals. And they did just that with two thumping wins.
Singapore were drawn with another underdog, Myanmar, in the two-legged semi-finals. Singapore took a 4-3 away lead back home for the second leg. In the ill-tempered second leg, three Myanmar players were sent off and Singapore went on to win 4-2 (8-5 on aggregrate).
Singapore then won the two-legged final against Indonesia 3-1 in the first leg in Jakarta, before winning 2-1 (5-2 on aggregrate) for the second leg in front of a 55,000-strong delirious home crowd. It was Singapore's second Tiger Cup title and there was more to come.
Avramovic then led Singapore into the 2007 Asian Cup qualifiers with a stunning 2-0 victory at home over much-fancied Iraq, courtesy of goals from strikers Khairul Amri and Mohd Noh Alam Shah. However, Singapore failed to build on to this victory and then lost away to the much weaker team from Palestine. The Singapore then took on China away in Tianjin and they held out till the 93rd minute, when captain Aide Iskandar conceded a penalty and Shao Jiayi of China dully converted the kick. China came to Singapore for the second meeting and the Singapore defence held out for a 0-0 draw. A subsequent 4-2 loss to Iraq dashed Singapore's hopes of qualifying for the Asian Cup. The Asian Cup qualifying campaign ended with a default 3-0 victory over Palestine as the war-torn country had troubles travelling to Singapore for the match.
For the 2007 ASEAN Football Championship (previously known as the Tiger Cup), Singapore was drawn into a group similar to the one they had in the 2004 competition. The pressure was on for Singapore to deliver at home and they started their defence of the title with an uninspiring 0-0 draw with Vietnam. Singapore then trashed minnows Laos 11-0 to record their largest-ever win, gaining a precious 3 points and an unassailable goal difference. In the final group match, Singapore knocked Indonesia out of the tournament in a tight, fiercely fought 2-2 draw. Singapore met their northern rivals Malaysia in the semi-final. In the first leg, Singapore stole a 1-1 draw away in Shah Alam. In the second leg at Singapore's National Stadium, following another draw, Singapore beat Malaysia in a penalty shoot-out 5-4 following heroics from goalkeeper Lionel Lewis saving the final Malaysian spot kick. In the final against Thailand, Singapore won a controversial first leg at home 2-1, and the secured a 1-1 draw in Bangkok thanks to a late strike from Khairul Amri to retain the ASEAN Football Championship trophy.
On the 24th of June 2007, only 16 years 7 months and 5 days old, Hariss Harun became the youngest ever player to don the national jersey as he came on in the second half in a friendly against North Korea.
Singapore will meet Palestine in first round of the FIFA World Cup 2010 Asian Qualifying. The two-legs will be played on the 8th and the 28th of October 2007.
Kits
In modern times Singapore's kit has been supplied by Admiral, Puma, Umbro, Grand Sport, Tiger. In November 2006, just before the 2007 ASEAN Football Championship kicked off, Nike signed a year's deal of kit sponsorship worth SGD$1,000,000. Nike still supplies the kit for the Singapore national team as of now.
Singapore had initially worn sky blue shirts and shorts as their home kit. In the late 80's, The Lions adopted the national colours of red and white for their home kit while they kept blue as the colour for the away kit. This tradition stayed on through the 90's. However, in 2006, kit supplier, Nike reverted the national team's colours back to blue as its home kit and white as the change kit, for the 2007 ASEAN Football Championship. The move raised a few eyebrows since red had been the traditional colour for nearly two decades. But right after the ASEAN Football Championships, red was the colour again and it is still the colour of the national team jerseys as of now.
Before 2006, Singapore had been using the same kit for nearly 5 years, supplied by Tiger who had a tie-up with Diadora. Now with the team under sponsorship of sports-goods giant, Nike, the kits are expected to be changed every 2 years. The previous home kit (used during the 2007 ASEAN Football Championship) made its final appearance on 4 February, 2007 against the Thailand. The current kit was first used on 24 June, 2007 against DPR Korea. The jersey has white trims at the edge of the sleeves and around the neck. Unlike most national teams which use the country's footballing association as a logo on the kit, the national flag of Singapore takes up the spot on the left chest instead while a white Nike logo is on the right chest and. This symmetry also applies to the away jersey. The numbering and lettering font and colour is the same as the previous two home jerseys.
A new kit is expected to be released during the unveiling of kits for Euro 2008.
World Cup record
Asian Cup record
- 1956 - Did not enter
- 1960 - Did not qualify
- 1964 - Did not enter
- 1968 - Did not qualify
- 1972 - Did not enter
- 1976 - Did not qualify
- 1980 - Did not qualify
- 1984 - Round 1
- 1988 - Did not enter
- 1992 to 2007 - Did not qualify
ASEAN Football Championship record
This competition was formerly known as the Tiger Cup
- 1996 - Group Stage
- 1998 - Champions
- 2000 - Group Stage
- 2002 - Group Stage
- 2004 - Champions
- 2007 - Champions
Singapore Squad
Latest squad
For the friendly against UAE
| Most Recent Squad | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date announced | 7 September2007 | |
| Game(s) | United Arab Emirates, 12 September 2007, | |
| Venue{s} | Jurong West Stadium | |
| Competition | Friendly | |
| Dropped | Hassan Sunny, Hafiz Osman, Shaiful Esah, Jumaat Jantan | |
| Injured | None | |
| Called Up | Jasper Chan, Ismail Yunos | |
| Pulled Out | None | |
- Goalkeepers
| Name | DOB | Club | Caps (goals) | Debut |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lionel Lewis | December 161982 | Home United |
42 (0) | v Maldives, 9 April 2002 |
| Jasper Chan | November 71988 | Young Lions |
Uncapped | N/A |
- Defenders
| Name | DOB | Club | Caps (goals) | Debut |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noh Rahman | August 21980 | Geylang United |
46 (0) | v Thailand, 27 January 2001 |
| Precious Emuejeraye | March 211983 | Gombak United |
24 (0) | v Thailand, 26 January 2006 |
| Daniel Bennett | January 71978 | SAFFC |
59 (5) | v Philippines, 11 November 2002 |
| Faizal Hamid | September 91981 | SAFFC |
4 (0) | v Indonesia, 4 September 2004 |
| Shariff Abdul Samat | 14 January1984 | Tampines Rovers |
Uncapped | N/A |
| Baihakki Khaizan | January 311984 | Young Lions |
42 (0) | v Hong Kong, 4 August 2003 |
| Aide Iskandar | May 281975 | Geylang United |
120 (0) | v Myanmar, 17 July 1995 |
- Midfielders
| Name | DOB | Club | Caps (goals) | Debut |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shahril Ishak | January 231984 | Home United |
48 (5) | v Maldives, 4 March 2003 |
| Shi Jiayi | September 21983 | Home United |
46 (0) | v Cambodia, 27 January 2001 |
| John Wilkinson | August 241979 | SAFFC |
3 (1) | v DPR Korea, 11 October 2005 |
| Ridhuan Muhammad | May 61984 | Tampines Rovers |
30 (3) | v Qatar, 19 November 2003 |
| Mustafic Fahrudin | April 171981 | Tampines Rovers |
23 (0) | v Denmark, 26 January 2006 |
| Hariss Harun | November 191990 | Young Lions |
3 (0) | v DPR Korea, 24 June 2007 |
- Strikers
| Name | DOB | Club | Caps (goals) | Debut |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agu Casmir | March 221984 | Gombak United |
17 (6) | v Norway, 28 January 2004 |
| Indra Sahdan Daud | March 51979 | Home United |
83 (26) | v Kuwait, 26 April 1997 |
| Mohd Noh Alam Shah | September 31980 | Tampines Rovers |
60 (23) | v Malaysia, 28 December 1999 |
| Fazrul Nawaz | April 171990 | Young Lions |
20 (1) | v Malaysia, 4 June 2005 |
| Khairul Amri | March 151990 | Young Lions |
37 (9) | v Oman, 9 June 2004 |
Previous squads
Backroom staff
| Head Coach | Radojko Avramović
|
| Assistant Coach | vacant |
| Team Manager | Eugene Loo
|
| Goalkeeping Coach | Lee Bee Seng
|
| Goalkeeping Coach | Koh Chuan Wee
|
| Goalkeeping Coach | K.Krishnan
|
| Fitness Coach | Aleksandar Bozenko
|
| Physiotherapist | Audrey Lim
|
| Masseurs | Yeo Swee Koon
|
| Sheik Abdullah Ismail
|
Player History
Famous Players
1970s
1980s and 1990s
- Fandi Ahmad
- Malek Awab
- David Lee
- Lee Man Hon
- Lim Tong Hai
- Nazri Nasir
- Terry Pathmanathan
- V. Sundramoorthy
- Steven Tan
- Borhan Abu Samah
- Hasnim Haron
- Rafi Ali
- D. Tokijan
- K. Kannan
- Kadir Yahya
- Yahya Madon
- Razali Saad
- Abdul Malek
2000s
- Lionel Lewis
- S Subramani
- Aide Iskandar
- Daniel Bennett
- Baihakki Khaizan
- Goh Tat Chuan
- Shahril Ishak
- Itimi Dickson
- Mohd Noh Alam Shah
- Indra Sahdan Daud
- Agu Casmir
- Khairul Amri
- Mustafic Fahrudin
Singapore captains
| # | Player | Reign |
|---|---|---|
| Aide Iskandar | 2002- present | |
| Nazri Nasir | 1997-2002 | |
| David Lee | 1997 | |
| Fandi Ahmad | 1993-1997 | |
| Razali Saad | 1993 | |
| Terry Pathmanathan | 1990-1992 | |
| Razali Saad | 1986-88 | |
| Malek Awab | 1985-1986 | |
| Au Yeong Pak Kuan | 1981-1984 | |
| Lee Kok Seng | 1954-1965 |
Singapore Head-Coaches
| Head-Coach | Reign | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raddy Avramovic | 2003 - | 56 | 18 | 16 | 22 |
| Jan Poulsen | 2000 - 2002 | ||||
| Vincent Subramaniam | 1998 - 2000 | ||||
| Barry Whitbread | 1996 - 1998 | ||||
| Douglas Moore | 1994 - 1996 | ||||
| Ken Worden | 1994 | ||||
| PN Sivaji | 1992 - 1994 | ||||
| Milos Kvacek | 1992 | ||||
| Robin Chan | 1990 - 1992 | ||||
| Jita Singh | 1988-1989 | ||||
| Seah Poh Leong | 1986 - 1988 | ||||
| Hussein Aljuneid | 1984-1986 | ||||
| Lim Yong Liang | 19?? - 19?? | ||||
| Choo Seng Quee | 19?? - 19?? |
See also
External links
- Football Association of Singapore website
- S.League official website
- Singapore's premier football community
International association football | ||
|---|---|---|
| World (FIFA) |  | |
| Asia (AFC) | ||
| Africa (CAF) | ||
| North America (CONCACAF) | ||
| South America (CONMEBOL) | ||
| Oceania (OFC) | ||
| Europe (UEFA) | ||
| Inter-Continental |
| |
| Non-FIFA | ||