Singapore national football team: Difference between revisions
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* [[2007 ASEAN Football Championship squads# Singapore|2007 AFF Championship squad]] |
* [[2007 ASEAN Football Championship squads# Singapore|2007 AFF Championship squad]] |
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* [[2008 AFF Suzuki Cup squads# Singapore|2008 Suzuki Cup squad]] |
* [[2008 AFF Suzuki Cup squads# Singapore|2008 Suzuki Cup squad]] |
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* [[2010 AFF Suzuki Cup squads# Singapore|2010 Suzuki Cup squad]] |
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== Past fixtures == |
== Past fixtures == |
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Revision as of 00:23, 25 November 2012
| Shirt badge/Association crest | |||
| Nickname(s) | The Lions | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Football Association of Singapore | ||
| Confederation | AFC (Asia) | ||
| Sub-confederation | AFF (Southeast Asia) | ||
| Head coach | Radojko Avramović | ||
| Captain | Shahril Ishak | ||
| Most caps | Aide Iskandar (121)[1] | ||
| Top scorer | Fandi Ahmad (52)[1][2] | ||
| Home stadium | Jalan Besar Stadium (Temporary: 2011 – present) | ||
| FIFA code | SIN | ||
| |||
| FIFA ranking | |||
| Current | 163 | ||
| Highest | 73[3] (August 1993[3]) | ||
| Lowest | 163 (November 2012) | ||
| First international | |||
 Singapore 2–3 South Korea  (Singapore; 11 April 1953) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
 Singapore 11–0 Laos  (Singapore; 15 January 2007) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 Burma 8–0 Singapore (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 9 November 1969) | |||
| Asian Cup | |||
| Appearances | 1 (first in 1984) | ||
| Best result | Round 1 | ||
The Singapore national football team is the national association football team of Singapore. The team comes under the organization 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 2004-05 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.[4]
In the 2007 Asian Cup qualifiers, Singapore became the only team to beat Iraq en route to their Asian Cup winning campaign. Singapore also drew with China 0–0 and 1–1 at home in 2006 and 2009 respectively. In March 2008, Australia also failed to beat Singapore when the game ended in a goalless draw.
In the FIFA World Rankings, Singapore's highest standing was in the first release of the figures, in August 1993, at 73rd.[3] Singapore was the Asian Football Confederation's 'Mover of the Year' in 2005.[5]
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.[6]
Singapore's main rival on the international stage is their geographical neighbour, Malaysia and Indonesia, and past matches between these two teams have produced much drama. Over the years, Singapore has included several naturalised citizens in its team. Currently, the squad includes Aleksandar Đurić and Mustafic Fahrudin from Yugoslavia, Daniel Bennett from England, Shi Jiayi and Qiu Li from China.
History
1892–1994
In 1892, the Singapore Amateur Football Association applied to become a registered society. The HMS Malaya Cup (which was later known as the Malaysia Cup) was launched in 1921 by officers of a British battleship in Malaya, and Singapore was one of the six teams that took part in the inaugural year, and won the event. While the representative side in the Malaysia Cup and the Malaysian League was not the national team per se – this team included some foreign players – 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.[citation needed] They either won or were runners up in the event every year until 1941, after which it was suspended because of World War II.
Overall, Singapore won 24 Malaysia Cup titles and 2 Malaysian League titles.[7] 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.[8]
1995–1999
Singapore won the bronze medal in the 1995 Southeast Asian Games, after losing 1–0 in the semi-finals to the hosts and eventual gold medalists, Thailand. Singapore hosted the 1996 Tiger Cup but were eliminated in the group stages.[9]
The national team again reached the semi-finals of the Southeast Asian Games in 1997, losing to Indonesia, and lost to Vietnam 1–0 in the third-place match.[10]
However in the 1998 edition of the Tiger Cup, Singapore's team led by coach Barry Whitbread won the group stage 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.[11]
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. Singapore hosted the 2002 Tiger Cup, but lost 4–0 to arch-rivals Malaysia in their first game. Before the game, local newspaper The New Paper was encouraging fans to turn up in numbers. After the game, the Lions attributed the heavy defeat to the surprise huge turnout. The team was not used to playing in-front of so many people. 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 reach the knock-out stages[12] and so Poulsen was sacked.[13]
2003–2004 (Tiger Cup)
Radojko Avramovic took over as coach of the flailing and deflated Singapore national football team in 2003.[14] Singapore started the 2004 Tiger Cup as underdogs but a 1–1 draw in their first game against hosts Vietnam, another draw against Indonesia, and wins against Cambodia and Laos saw the qualify for the semi-finals.
Singapore were drawn with 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 a reserve Myanmar Goalkeeper even threw a water bottle at defender S.Subramanium. Singapore went on to win 4–2 after extra time to clinch a win 8 -5 on aggregrate.
Singapore then won the first leg of the two-legged final against Indonesia 3–1 in Jakarta, before winning 2–1 (5–2 on aggregrate) in the second leg in front of a 55,000 home crowd.
2007 Asian Cup Qualifiers
In 2006, Avramovic then led Singapore into the 2007 Asian Cup qualifiers with a 2–0 victory at home over Iraq, but Singapore failed to build on this victory and then lost away to Palestine. The Singapore team then took on China away in Tianjin and lost to an injury time penalty. China travelled 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, who were unable to fulfill the fixture.
2007 AFF Suzuki Cup
In 2007, For the 2007 ASEAN Football Championship, Singapore hosted the group stage. After a 0–0 draw with Vietnam, Singapore then trashed Laos 11–0 to record their largest-ever win. In the final group match, Singapore knocked Indonesia out of the tournament in a 2–2 draw. Singapore met Malaysia in the semi-final. The first leg saw a 1–1 draw in Shah Alam, while in the second leg at Singapore's National Stadium, following another 1–1 draw, Singapore beat Malaysia in a penalty shoot-out 5–4, 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 then secured a 1–1 draw in Bangkok thanks to a late strike from Khairul Amri to retain the ASEAN Football Championship trophy.[15]
2008 AFF Suzuki Cup
In 2008, For the 2008 AFF Suzuki Cup held in Indonesia and Thailand, 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, 1–0 on aggregate.
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, and the Palestinians again failed to fulfill the away fixture, so FIFA awarded Singapore a 3–0 win.
Singapore was drawn with Tajikistan in the second round: Singapore won the home match 2–0 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 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 beat Lebanon 2–0 at home. Successive losses to Uzbekistan, 3–7 and 0–1, left Singapore with little chance 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. With the elimination, Goal 2010 was also dropped.
2011 Asian Cup Qualification
For the 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification, Singapore was drawn in Group E, together with Iran, Thailand and Jordan. Singapore were beaten 6–0 by Iran in the first match, and then defeated Jordan 2–1. In November 2009, Singapore hosted Thailand at the National Stadium and lost 3–1, but won the return fixture 1–0 a few days later, earning Singapore their first victory on Thai soil in 48 years. Singapore next hosted Iran, losing 3–1, and a 2–1 defeat against Jordan ended their hopes of Asian Cup football in 2011. The players reported some players were smoking during halftime in the match against Jordan.
2010 AFF Suzuki Cup
In 2010, Singapore drew with the Philippines 1–1, defeated Myanmar 2–1, then duly lost to Vietnam 1–0 in the knockout stage decider. As a result, the Singapore national football team was knocked out in group stage in Hanoi. The Lions were criticised for their dismal performance in the Suzuki Cup, which they won in 1998, 2004, and 2007.
2011 – present
In Jan 2011, The Football Association of Singapore decided to disband & revamp the national team. 6 months later, The Lions were back in action after the dismal performances in 2010 (in which The Lions was knocked out of the group stage in the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup). In May 2011, National team coach Raddy Avramovic announced the new 33-strong (men) national provisional squad for the upcoming international friendlies and 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification The Lions were scheduled to play international friendies against Maldives on 7 June 2011 and Laos on 18 July 2011. Few days after releasing the provisional 33-men squad,national team training started in preparation of the match against Maldives. Avramovic led the new-look Lions in a game where Singapore won Maldives 4–0 at the Jalan Besar Stadium, Singapore in a friendly match. (Note. The match was not an 'A' international because unlimited substitutions were allowed) After the 4–0 win against Maldives, a closed-door friendly match against Etoile FC (of the S.League) was played at the Jalan Besar Stadium, in which the Lions were triumphant, with goals from Aleksandar Duric and Qiu Li sealing the 2–1 win. Less than a week later before the World Cup qualifier, a last preparation friendly match was played against Chinese Taipei. Eventually, Singapore won the match 3–2 with goals from Aleksandar Duric, Shi Jiayi and Fazrul Nawaz.
Since their 2nd time succession to the third round of the World Cup Qualifier, the Lions prepared a friendly non 'A' match against Thailand national football team before the World Cup Qualifier match against China national football team The Lions resulted in a 0–0 draw against the Thais.
The Lions are taking part in the 10th Edition of Sultan Selangor Cup in replacement of Singapore Selection on Oct 1 at the Shah Alam Stadium, Malaysia The match is to prepare for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifier against Jordan national football team Eventually, Singapore won 1-0 to Selangor Selection. Singapore won the Sultan Selangor Cup for the 6th time. The following match was Singapore vs Philippines national football team which ended 2-0 for Singapore.
Few months later, Coach Raddy Avramovic announced the new 27-men strong squad for the national team. Most of the players are from Singapore LIONSXII It was announced that they will be having a friendly match against Hong Kong national football team, Malaysia national football team, Myanmar national football team and philippines national football team **Dates shown below
2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifier (Asian Qualifier)
Singapore received a bye to the second round by the football governing body due to them reaching the third round of the qualification process in 2007 (for the World Cup in South Africa). A causeway clash as Singapore met Malaysia national football team for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification second round in the first leg. Singapore beat Malaysia national football team 5–3 in the first leg of 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (Asian Zone) second round goals from Singapore Aleksandar Duric, Qiu Li, Mustafic Fahrudin and Shi Jiayi . The 2nd leg was held at the National Stadium, Bukit Jalil on 28 July 2011. The match ended 1–1 as Shi Jiayi scored the important goal in the second half to send Singapore through to the 3rd Round of Asian Zone World Cup 2014 Qualifying for the 2nd time in succession.
In the preliminary draw in Brazil on 30 July 2011 by the football governing body FIFA, Singapore was drawn into Group A for their Round 3 of the Asian qualifier. Group A includes Jordan, Iraq and China.
In a start of 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifying campaign Round 3, Singapore lost to China national football team 1–2 in Kunming. Singapore succumbed a second defeat 2-0 to Iraq because of a few injured players. The next match was slated to be held at Jalan Besar Stadium, Singapore on October 11 against Jordan national football team which Singapore lost 3-0. With a little chance to qualify for the 4th & Final Round, Singapore lost 2-0 to Jordan in Amman which knocked Singapore out of the Qualifier and hopes to 4th Round. Last match of the year, Singapore end with a lost at the Jalan Besar Stadium with the scoreline of 4-0 to China PR, being defeated 5 times in a row. Singapore ended their campaign with a 7-1 loss to Iraq in Doha, Qatar.
Kits
There have been different suppliers for the jerseys, from Admiral, Puma, Umbro, Grand Sport to Tiger. In November 2006, Nike signed a year's deal of kit sponsorship worth SGD$1,000,000.
Singapore had initially worn blue shirts and shorts as their home kit. However, in the late 1980s, 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 1990s. For the 2007 ASEAN Football Championship, the national team's colours reverted back to blue as its home kit and white as the other kit.
Before 2006, Singapore had been using the same kit for nearly 5 years, supplied by Tiger who had a tie-in with Diadora. The kit used during the 2007 ASEAN Football Championship made its final appearance on 4 February 2007 against Thailand. The next 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: red for the home games and 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.[16]
In November 2010, Nike Singapore launched a new football kit for Singapore, specially made for the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup. The home kit's design was of half dark red and light red. The away kit features half navy blue and light blue that was once worn by Singapore football team in 1970's era.
Home stadium
From 1932, until the Kallang National Stadium was opened in 1973, Jalan Besar Stadium hosted all home games of Singapore's representative sides which participated in the Malaysia Cup. Since then, all of Singapore'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 2010 to make way for the new Singapore Sports Hub which was to be completed in 2014. 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. The stadium is currently under works for the new Sports Hub, and the current home base for the Singapore National Team will be the Jalan Besar Stadium, sharing it with The Cubs, their youth counterparts, LIONSXII, their Malaysia League Singapore team, the U15 and 16s.
Since 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
Competition records
FIFA World Cup records
AFC Asian Cup
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