August 31, 2004

Nigerian-born forward Itimi Dickson received his Singaporean citizenship papers on Monday and could make his debut for the Lions as soon as the weekend.

Dickson, who was inducted into the Football Association of Singapore Foreign Talent Scheme 2 years ago, is eligible to turn for Singapore in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers & Tiger Cup.

He is in contention to turn out against Indonesia in a friendly on Saturday, and joins Nigerian-born striker Agu Casmir & English-born defender Daniel Bennett in the Lions squad.

Dickson declared he was delighted to receive his citizenship as he has been in Singapore for a long time & feel a part of the society here

National coach Radojko Avramovic was also delighted for him & said most people see him as a Singaporean already.

However he asked for people need to give Dickson time because he will have his ups and downs, but in the long term Dickson will adapt very well to international football

Dickson caught the eye in 2001 as a 17-year-old blessed with pace to burn and the ball skills to match when he burst onto the S-League scene with Jurong. 

But disciplinary problems caught up with him when Dickson was suspended for 3 months & fined $1,000 for punching Home United's Harun Juma'at.

On his return in 2002, he fell out with then-Jurong coach V Sundramoorthy & signed for Woodlands Wellington where he first linked up with Agu Casmir. In the 2 seasons with the Rams, Dickson quickly made his mark with his ability to operate on the wing & upfront.

Together with Casmir, he then made the move to the Young Lions this season &d has proven to be a hit at Jalan Besar, scoring 7 goals so far. With a dressing room of young players, Dickson has also integrated well.