March 26, 2004
Nazri Nasir capped 101 times &, as skipper, led Singapore to their first international triumph when they lifted the 1998 Tiger Cup in Vietnam but now after a year in the international wilderness, he was back in training with the Lions & admitted he felt uncomfortable.
He had about call it quits at the end of the year & had even got a job as a car salesman to prepare for a life after football.
However Nazri Nasir, Singapore's captain from 1996 until he was unceremoniously axed last year, did not quite expect the turnaround in his football fortunes. The 33-year-old was picked for national coach Raddy Avramovic's 24-man squad to face Japan in next Wednesday's World Cup qualifier, marking his 1st call-up since the 2002 Tiger Cup.
Not that the Tampines Rovers midfielder mind postponing retirement.
He spoke that he does not want fans to remember him as the captain of the Singapore team that lost 0-4 to Malaysia. He is not a quitter & will give off his best on the pitch.
It feels good to be back in his 1st training session with the national team in a while but a lot of things have changed & he is feeling a bit uncomfortable. However it will get better as he spend more time with the team together.
National coach Radojko Avramovic believes Nazri deserves his recall.
The national coach looks at the player current form before deciding recalling Nazri Nasir to the team.
Singapore might need players like him against Japan as Radojko Avramovic noted that Japan do not play just 1 style for the whole 90 minutes with them varying their game. So Singapore will different players at different points of the game.
Still the coach did not want to reveal too much of his game plan