Singapore national football team
 |
For current information on this topic, see 2010 Singapore national football team results. |
 |
|||
| Nickname(s) | The Lions | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Football Association of Singapore |
||
| Confederation | AFC (Asia) | ||
| Head coach |  Radojko Avramović (2003-) |
||
| Captain | Noh Alam Shah (2010-Present) | ||
| Most caps | Aide Iskandar (121)[1] | ||
| Top scorer | Fandi Ahmad (50) | ||
| Home stadium | National Stadium, Singapore | ||
| FIFA code | SIN | ||
| FIFA ranking | 127 | ||
| Highest FIFA ranking | 73 (August 1993) | ||
| Lowest FIFA ranking | 140 (October 2007) | ||
| Elo ranking | 119 | ||
|
|||
| First international | |||
.svg){kind=small} 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) |
|||
| 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 AFF Suzuki Cup (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.[2].
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 en route to their Asian Cup winning campaign. Singapore and also drew with China 0-0 and 1-1 at home in 2006 and 2009 respectively. 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 March 2008, Asian giants Australia also failed to beat Singapore when the game ended in a goalless draw.
In the FIFA World Rankings, Singapore is currently the number 3 ranked Southeast Asian team behind Thailand (1st) and Vietnam (2nd) and the number 20 in Asia (as of 26 May 2010). Singapore was tagged as the Asian Football Confederation's 'Mover of the Year' in 2005.[3].
In January 2007, Singapore achieved a national record 11-0 win against Laos in an ASEAN Football Championship match. Mohd Noh Alam Shah scored 7 goals in the match[4].
Singapore's main rival on the international stage is their geographical neighbour, Malaysia, and past matches between these two teams have produced much drama.
Most of the players in the Singapore national football team currently play for club teams in Singapore's top professional league, the S.League, with the exception of Noh Alam Shah and Ridhuan Muhammad, Baihakki Khaizan and Precious Emuejeraye, who ply their trade in the Indonesian Super League.
In recent years, Singapore has included several naturalised citizens in its team. Notable foreign-born citizens who have played for Singapore include Egmar Goncalves from Brazil; Mirko Grabovac from Croatia and Itimi Dickson from Nigeria. The current national team also consists of foreign-born citizens such as Daniel Bennett and John Wilkinson from England; Qiu Li and Shi Jiayi from China; Mustafic Fahrudin from Serbia; Precious Emuejeraye, Itimi Dickson and Agu Casmir from Nigeria; and the Bosnian-born former Australian Aleksander Duric.[5].
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] 1892 - 1950
In 1892, the Singapore Amateur Football Association applied to become a registered society. In those days however, football in Singapore was still a backyard sport played by the various communities and coached, refereed and administered by the British colonist. It was not until 1921 that football became organised. The HMS Malaya Cup (which was later known as the Malaysia Cup) was launched by officers of a British battleship in Malaya. Singapore was one of the 6 teams that took part in the inaugural year. While the representative side in the Malaysia Cup and the Malaysian League 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.
By the time the 1930s had arrived, the first true star of Singapore football had emerged. Lim Yong Lian, a master of pace and acceleration and a goal getter of instinctive quality. More were produced in the 1930s and by the end of the 1930s, Singapore had entered every single final for 10 years of which they won 7. But even with World War 2 reaching closer to Singapore's shores, Singapore managed to win the 1941 Malaya Cup.
[edit] 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.[6].
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 its national team in international competitions.[7].
[edit] 1995 - 1999
With the local football 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 medalists, 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.[8].
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.[9].
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 semi-finals, they beat Indonesia and subsequently edged out hosts Vietnam 1-0 in the final. This was the country's first ever international title.[10].
[edit] 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. Poulsen's track record of 2 points out of a possible 18 in the World Cup 2002 qualifiers meant that he had to deliver in the 2002 Tiger Cup hosted in Singapore 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[11] and so Poulsen was sacked following the premature exit of the team from the tournament[12].
[edit] 2003 - present
Radojko Avramovic took over as coach of the flailing and deflated Singapore national football team in 2003[13]. 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.
[edit] 2004 AFF Suzuki Cup
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.
[edit] 2007 Asian Cup Qualifiers
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 this victory and then lost away to the much weaker team from Palestine. The Singapore team then took on China away in Tianjin and they held out till the 93rd minute, when then-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.
[edit] 2007 AFF Suzuki Cup
For the 2007 ASEAN Football Championship, 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 from Mohd Khyril Muhymeen Zambri. 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.[14]
On the 24 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. [15]
[edit] 2010 World Cup Qualifiers
Singapore met Palestine in first round of the FIFA World Cup 2010 Asian Qualifying. Singapore won the first leg 4-0 away in Doha, Qatar thanks to a brace from Shi Jiayi and goals from John Wilkinson and Noh Alam Shah. They had a massive advantage going into the second leg at the National Stadium on 28 October. However, the Palestinians did not turn up for the game, citing travel problems. Thus, FIFA awarded Singapore with a 3-0 win.
Singapore was drawn with Tajikistan in the second round. In the first leg, Singapore's oldest debutant, 37-year-old Aleksandar Duric bagged a brace for the Lions[16]. Singapore won the match 2-0 at home and drew the return leg 1-1 on 18 November to progress to the group stage of the FIFA World Cup 2010 Asian Qualifying for the very first time, where they were drawn against Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Uzbekistan.
Singapore's group stage campaign began with a loss to Saudi Arabia, but the Lions then rallied back to beat Lebanon 2-0 at home with goals from Fazrul Nawaz and Aleksander Duric. Successive losses to Uzbekistan, 3-7 and 0-1, left Singapore with only mathematical chances of getting into the next round. Singapore were finally eliminated when they lost 2-0 to the Saudis at home. Singapore finished third in the group with six points from six games after defeating Lebanon 2-1 in Beirut in their final game.
[edit] 2008 AFF Suzuki Cup
For the 2008 AFF Suzuki Cup held in Indonesia and Thailand from 5 December-28 December, Singapore was drawn in Group A to meet co-hosts Indonesia, Myanmar and Cambodia. Singapore progressed from the group, topping the table. However, they lost out to eventual winners Vietnam, 2-1 on aggregate.
[edit] 2011 Asian Cup Qualification
For the 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification, Singapore was drawn in Group E, together with Iran, Thailand and Jordan. The qualifying campaign was held from January 2009 to March 2010. It would be a round-robin format on a home and away basis. The top 2 teams in the group would qualify for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Doha, Qatar.
On the 28th of January 2009, Singapore defeated Jordan 2-1, thus moving to second place on the group table after getting thrashed by Iran 6-0 in the first match. After the victory, the local newspapers carried reports of the Jordanians assaulting Singapore players and staff. AFC has since said they were investigating the matter. In November, Singapore hosted Thailand at the National Stadium and lost 3-1.
A few days later, they travelled to Thailand and defeated them 1-0, earning Singapore their first victory on Thai soil in 48 years. On the 6th of January 2010, Singapore hosted Iran, losing 3-1 in front of just 5,000 fans. They slipped to third place behind Thailand on goal difference and needed to better Thailand's result in the last game to qualify. With the Thais' narrow 1-0 loss to Iran, a draw against Jordan in Amman would have sufficed but the Lions lost 2-1, ending their hopes of Asian Cup football in 2011.
[edit] Kits
In modern times Singapore's kit has been supplied by Admiral, Puma, Umbro, Grand Sport, and 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-in with Diadora. Now with the team under sponsorship of American sportswear 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 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.
On 13 February 2008, a leaked photo from a photo shoot surfaced on the internet showing the unreleased kit showing national captain, Indra Sahdan Daud modelling the kit with Hariss Harun. The new kit was officially announced on 20 March 2008, featuring tight-fit jerseys in the two traditional team colours: Atom red for the home games and Marina blue for the away matches. The kit was worn for the first time by the national team in the international Friendly against Australia in preparation for the World Cup 2010 qualifier home game against Lebanon on 26 March 2008[17].
[edit] Home stadium
Before the Kallang National Stadium was opened in 1973, from 1932, Jalan Besar Stadium hosted all home games of Singapore's representative side's which participated in the Malaysia Cup.
On the 11th of April 1953, Singapore played its first international game, hosting South Korea in a friendly that Singapore lost 3-2 at the Jalan Besar Stadium. Jalan Besar Stadium continued to host Singapore's Malaysia Cup and international matches till the 55,000 capacity Kallang National Stadium opened in 1973. From then on, all of Singapore's representative side's home games in the Malaysia Cup and the national team home matches were played at the Kallang National Stadium.
However, the National Stadium was slated for demolishment in early 2007 to make way for the new Singapore Sports Hub which was to be completed in 2011. Singapore played Australia in what was supposedly the last game ever to be played at that stadium. However, due to some delays caused by the addition of new plans for the Singapore Sports Hub, the National Stadium continued to host more of the Singapore's matches. Since the supposed 'last game', the stadium has hosted 5 more matches, and it was also be the venue for 2 more World Cup 2010 qualifier matches which was played in June 2008 and a friendly match against the Brazilian Under-23 team who were preparing for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
As of 14 November 2009, the stadium remains open and has hosted numerous matches involving teams like Liverpool FC since the 'supposed closing date'. There were reports that the stadium was not going to be demolished anytime soon.
In the event that the National Stadium finally makes way for the Sports Hub, Singapore is slated to play all of their future matches at the Jalan Besar Stadium, although they are possibilities of having The Float at Marina Bay as a venue for home games.
From the start of 2004, Singapore has played its home matches in 5 different stadiums all over Singapore.
- Kallang National Stadium
- Jalan Besar Stadium
- Choa Chu Kang Stadium
- Jurong West Stadium
- Jurong East Stadium
[edit] Competition records
[edit] World Cup record
[edit] 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 2011 - Did not qualify
[edit] 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
- 2008 - Semi Finalists
[edit] Asian Games record
- 1951 - Did Not Enter
- 1954 - Eliminated at Group Stage
- 1958 - Eliminated at Group Stage
- 1962 - Did Not Enter
- 1966 - 4th Position
- 1970 - Did Not Enter
- 1974 - Did Not Enter
- 1978 - Did Not Enter
- 1982 - Did Not Enter
- 1986 - Did Not Enter
- 1990 - Eliminated at Group Stage
- 1994 - Did Not Enter
- 1998 - Did Not Enter
- *Under-23 tournament since 2002
[edit] SEA Games record
- 1959 - Did Not Enter
- 1961 - Did Not Enter
- 1963 - Cancelled
- 1965 - Eliminated at Preliminary Round
- 1967 - Did Not Enter
- 1969 - NA
- 1971 - Eliminated at Group Stage
- 1973 - 4th Position
- 1975 - Bronze Medallists
- 1977 - Eliminated at Group Stage
- 1979 - Eliminated at Preliminary Round
- 1981 - 4th Position
- 1983 - Silver Medallists
- 1985 - Silver Medallists
- 1987 - Eliminated at Group Stage
- 1989 - Silver Medallists
- 1991 - Bronze Medallists
- 1993 - Bronze Medallists
- 1995 - Bronze Medallists
- 1997 - 4th Position
- 1999 - 4th Position
- *Under-23 tournament since 2001
[edit] Singapore Squad
[edit] Latest squad
Singapore's current squad, formed to compete in friendly against Oman on December 31, 2009 and the Asian Cup 2011 qualifier match on January 6, 2010 against Iran, was announced on December 22 , 2009 by head coach Radojko Avramovic.
Caps, goals and numbers are as of January 20, 2009 and the conclusion of the last match vs Iran in Singapore.
 withdrew due to injuriesIwithdrew due to illness  removed from the squad due to breach of disciplineSadded subsequently as a substitute [edit] Recent call upsThe following players have been called up for the team in 2010.
[edit] Previous squads[edit] Backroom staff
[edit] Player History[edit] Captains
[edit] Head-Coaches
[edit] Titles
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
