Wednesday, January 28, 2009
So Singapore host Jordan tonight in their second AFC Asian Cup qualifier. Much talked about is the foreign contingent playing in Singapore's national team. The likes of John Wilkinson, Dan Bennett, Alex Duric, Precious, Agu Casmir, Shi Jiayi all benefit the national team in their very own way... But if you look at the current squad to face Jordan, and most of the players are national team regulars, and take out those foreign players, leaving just the Singaporean players, what sorta team would they put out?
In goal, it'll definitely be current No. 1 Lionel Lewis, so there's no difference there, with Hassan Sunny his ever-ready back-up.
Ahead of Lewis in defence, current first-choice right-back Noh Rahman looks a very good full-back, with Baihakki Khaizan and youngster Ismail Yunos in defence. And to complete the back-four at left-back would definitely be another young Lion in Shaiful Esah, which has a sweet left-footed delivery, especially in set-pieces. So with the experience of Noh and Khaizan alongside the youthful Shaiful and Ismail, the defence looks pretty solid. Ismail's pace will definitely suit in nicely with Khaizan's reading and aerial dominance, even if the latter's a little bit slow.
In the middle of the park, Fazrul Nawaz would definitely be the right offensive winger. Defensive midfielder Isa Halim would partner the more offensive-minded Shahril Ishak in the centre of the park, with the pacey Khairul Amri on the left-flank, cutting in most of the time. Ishak could move to the right-flank with a more defensive-minded tackler in Hariss Harun to partner Isa in the engine room. So the midfield is definitely filled with young players who will develop into a formidable quartet in the future.
Up front in attack, veteran striker Indra Sahdan should partner Noh Alam Shah. Indra's finishing and intelligent movements will leave space for the offensive midfielders, while Alam Shah's strength and decent aerial prowess, plus awareness of his strike partner, will certainly allow both to play alongside each other easily. Both strikers are at their peaks already, so do have to fire in the goals regularly.
The other options in between the starting XI and the substitute bench are the likes of, as mentioned above, Hariss Harun, midfielder Tengku Mushadad, forwards Masrezwan Masturi and Mustaqim Manzur, and defenders Hafiz Ozman and Juma'at Jantan, who all can do a decent job off the bench. There is definitely quality in the Singaporean players, and they should be given a chance sometime.
Foreign-born players like Mustafic Fahrudin, Daniel Bennett, John Wilkinson and Shi Jiayi are the only ones that have proven themselves so far, while Alex Duric is nearing the end of his career, but there are many to replace him. The likes of Precious, Agu Casmir and Qiu Li haven't proven themselves much yet.
So yeah. Singaporean-born for the Singapore national team.
Bye~!
my thoughts at 3:48 pm