January 2 - 8, 2006

January 7

Note 1 – FAS president set sight on Asian Cup 2007 qualification

FAS president Assoc Prof Ho Peng Kee believed Singapore is capable of capturing 1 of the 2 spots in Group E to advance to the Asian Cup Finals.

He noted Singapore was named by Fifa as the best mover in the AFC for 2005 but it would mean nothing if Singapore cannot sustain the improvement.

That is why apart from continued investments in youth development this year, he had set the twin targets of qualifying for the Asian Cup Finals and retaining the ASEAN Cup crown  

January 6

Note 1 – Singapore planning Middle-East trip

In order to prepare for the upcoming Asian Cup games against Iraq and Palestine, the Lions are planning a six week-long training camp which will include warm-up games in the Middle East.

National coach Raddy stated we will start our preparations on January 10 for our first two games and we’ll have a training camp and will play Kuwait, Oman and possibly Qatar in the Middle East to prepare for those matches.

He continued saying it may be a long trip for the players but we must prepare ourselves for our first game by playing teams that are of a similar quality to Iraq and Palestine.

Supporting Raddy is skipper Aide as he say the right preparations are crucial for these big games and knowing our coach Raddy, I'm sure he will prepare us thoroughly for each game.

Note 2 – Singapore 26 man squad for Asian Cup qualifiers

Singapore squad:

Goalkeepers: Hassan Sunny (Young Lions), Lionel Lewis (Home United), Fadhil Salim (Young Lions)

Defenders: Daniel Bennett (Woodlands Wellington), Aide Iskandar (Johor FA), S Subramani (Home United), Mustafic Fahrudin (Tampines Rovers), Baihakki Khaizan (Young Lions), Precious Emuejeraye (Gombak United), Noh Rahman (Geylang United), Aidil Sharin (Home United), Bah Mamadou (Home United)

Midfielders: Isa Halim (Young Lions), Ishak Zainol (SAFFC), Khairul Amri (Young Lions), Itimi Dickson (unattached), Tengku Mushadad (Young Lions), Hafizat Jauharmi (Tampines Rovers), Shahril Ishak (Young Lions), Goh Tat Chuan (Woodlands Wellington), Shi Jiayi (Young Lions)

Forwards: Fazrul Nawaz (Young Lions), Masrezwan Masturi (Woodlands Wellington), Indra Sahdan (Home United), Noh Alam Shah (Tampines Rovers), Ashrin Shariff (SAFFC)

January 5

Note 1 – Raddy welcome Asian Cup challenge

Singapore coach Radojko Avramovic is looking forward to the challenge of matching his side against China, Iraq and Palestine in the upcoming Asian Cup 2007 qualifiers.

While admitting that it will be a difficult task, the Serbo-Montenegrin believes that Singapore have a fair chance to qualify for the final rounds of the Asian Cup for the first time since they hosted the event in 1984.

He stated that the 3 oppositions are quality teams and it is a beautiful chance to test ourselves to see how far we can go in this competition and we all have a chance to qualify.

Note 2 – Players confident of Singapore chances

Lions captain Aide Iskandar is looking forwards to Singapore upcoming Asian Cup qualifiers scheduled to begin February 22 with a home tie against Iraq.

The skipper believed Singapore will raise their game and nothing is impossible.

He added Singapore have showed previously that we won't be overawed by the big teams, referring to the Lions' two ties against Japan in the World Cup qualifiers last year.

Equally confident is midfielder Goh Tat Chuan, who was also excited by the draw.

The Rams player stated China is a big team while Iraq is another good side with Palestine having players from the South American leagues and the local players would be thrilled to face up against them.

He continued saying we are going to take this as a positive challenge and raise our game to the next level to match them.

At the same time, he is hoping the game against China, Iraq and Palestine, will draw good crowds and Singapore fans turn up to support the Lions, and be the 12th man that helps Singapore to the Asian Cup finals. 

January 4

Note 1 – Asian Cup 2007 Qualifiers

Group E - China, Iraq, Singapore, Palestine

Match schedule – www.geocities.com/sl2003football/AsianCup.html

January 3

Note 1 – Young Lions signed ex-Sinchi midfielder   

Another ex-Sinchi footballer earned the chance to play for the Young Lions as the Young Lions signed ex-Sinchi midfielder Qiu Li for the 2006 S-League season.

The 24-year-old had played for Sinchi for two seasons, but had returned to China after the club said that they were pulling out from the S-League before the Young Lions took the trouble to bring him back

National coach Raddy believed he was definitely worth the trouble as he scored 2 goals in his first training session.

Note 2 – AFC confirm details on Asian Cup 2007   

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has confirmed that the final competition of the AFC Asian Cup 2007 will take place from July 7 to 29 following the first meeting of the organising committee in Kuala Lumpur.

The AFC also announced that the final round draw will be held in December 2006 following the completion of the qualification competition, which begins on February 22 and ends on November 15.

Teams have until January 30th to register 40 players for the qualification competition although they can change up to five players until seven days before each match.

In a concession to the AFC representatives taking part in the forthcoming 2006 FIFA World Cup, the organising committee has also decided to allow those teams to reschedule their Asian Cup qualifiers on March 1 to September 1 so that they will be able to arrange warm-up friendlies on that date.

The draw for the Asian Cup qualification competition takes place on January 4, while the next meeting of the organising committee will take place in March.