Category: News
After a four-week break, the Lion City Sailors will get back to league action when they travel to Balestier Khalsa this Sunday (19 June) evening.
Kim Do-hoon’s men will do so on the back of a six-match winning streak in the AIA Singapore Premier League (SPL), and another victory at the Toa Payoh Stadium will see them set a new club record.
However, the Korean is more focused on continuing the momentum that was being built before the international break as the Sailors hunt a second straight SPL title.
“Such statistics are not in my head,” he said. “It is more about how we can sustain good performances on the pitch after coming back from the Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL) and show continuous improvement. Of course, we will fight for the three points and put on a good show.”
The Sailors were far from their best in their first match upon their return from the ACL back in May – a 4-3 win against Hougang United – and Kim knows that they have to put in a much-improved performance against the Tigers, who, despite having lost their last four games, will certainly pose their own threat.
While the Sailors have won five of their six encounters in history, the one time they dropped points was at Toa Payoh Stadium. Then, Stipe Plazibat’s 95th minute penalty salvaged a 1-1 draw, and Kim admitted that the venue might see him make some specific tweaks to his game plan.
“To be honest, it will have an effect on the match but at the end of the day, both teams will be playing under the same conditions and we will have to overcome any difficulties,” he said. “I think that Balestier have been showing good performances in spite of the results; they added quite a few new players for this season and it always takes time to gel in a situation like that. But credit goes to their head coach (Akbar Nawas) for getting them to play some good football.
“It was not easy playing them in our last meeting (a 4-0 win in April) and I believe it will be the same this week… They are a team who likes to play offensive football and they are very aggressive at running behind their opponents’ defensive line.”
Kim revealed that the international break was a “good” one for those who were not on duty as they worked on fitness and individual aspects for improvement. However, the 12 Lions who were part of the Singapore National Team will still need to be assessed for match fitness.
Hassan Sunny and Shahdan Sulaiman completed all four matches during the window while Hariss Harun, Faris Ramli and Song Uiyoung played the majority of the minutes; Amirul Adli, Hafiz Nor, Nur Adam Abdullah, Iqram Rifqi, Adam Swandi and Gabriel Quak all saw action as well. Young midfielder Saifullah Akbar, however, is a doubt for the game after picking up a knock. “Whoever is ready will get to play,” Kim said.
Nonetheless, the Sailors will welcome Zulqarnaen Suzliman back from the Young Lions after the 24-year-old completed his National Service, and Kim noted: “I am very happy to have him back and he has been welcomed back by everyone. He is an offensive full-back with speed and that threat is an asset for us.”
It is clear that the spirit and confidence is high in the Sailors camp, and Kim wants it to stay that way by getting all three points at the weekend.
“It is important that we play the football that we know we can, after good preparations,” he said. “If we can show that on the field, I am sure we will have a good result.”
A day before the Lion City Sailors were due to take on Balestier Khalsa in the Deloitte Women’s Premier League (WPL) last weekend, it was announced that the match would be rescheduled due to several Balestier players testing positive for Covid-19.
While the Sailors would have liked to ride the momentum from their 4-1 win over Albirex Niigata (S) the week before, the unexpected postponement did come with its own advantages.
For one, it meant that the Sailors – who had just two weeks of full team training before the start of the season – now had an extra week to train together, allowing the players to work on their cohesion and understanding on the pitch.
Sailors assistant coach Adelina Gomez said: “We pencilled in a training session to replace the postponed game, so that we could prepare for our next game. Of course, the additional week of training was helpful, and I think the extra sessions we had gave us time to work on our game plan.”
The Sailors’ next challenge in the WPL will see them take on Hougang United, who have lost all three of their games played so far.
Despite Hougang’s poor run of form, Adelina cautioned against underestimating the Cheetahs, as she said: “They’re (Hougang) very speedy off the ball and that could potentially cause issues for us if we don’t read it quick. They’ve got a pretty solid back line as well, so we need to be creative with our movement to create chances.
“Moving the ball around, as well as staying calm and patient is something we’re aiming to do. If we can do that, we will be able to create opportunities in their box.
“We want to play fun, entertaining and attacking football. We’re going to seize the opportunity right from the beginning. I think if we start on the right foot, it’ll give us an advantage.”
The Sailors, however, will have to try and get all three points against Hougang without captain Ernie Sulastri, as well as head coach Yeong Sheau Shyan. The duo is part of the technical team of the Singapore Women’s Under-16 national side, who are currently in Thailand for a training camp.
Nonetheless, Adelina, who will be standing in as head coach this weekend, is confident that her charges will be able to get the job done, even without Sheau Shyan and Ernie.
“The training sessions have been going well so far, so I’m confident we’ll do fine on Saturday. Adaptation is key because situations like this happen all the time, but our girls work very well together,” Adelina declared.
“I don’t want to be complacent but I have utmost faith in our girls. Ultimately the end goal is to fight for the three points and keep a clean sheet this weekend. They’ve been looking sharp and focused at trainings so I’m optimistic we can get all three points.”
The Singapore National Women’s Team has called up 12 Lion City players for their upcoming ‘A’ international friendlies against Hong Kong, which will take place on June 23 and 26 at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
Among the Sailors called up to Stephen Ng’s provisional 29-player squad include captain Ernie Sulastri Binte Sontaril, goalkeeper Beatrice Tan, as well as up-and-coming forward Danelle Tan.
The Lionesses will be hoping to build upon an encouraging SEA Games campaign in Vietnam last month, which saw them make history with a 1-0 win over Laos.
Then, it was the Sailors very own Nur Izzati Rosni who scored the only goal of the match to secure the Lionesses’ first win at the Games since 1985.
Following the friendlies against Hong Kong, the Lionesses – who are currently ranked 135th in the FIFA world rankings – will look towards the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Women’s Championship 2022, which is set to take place in the Philippines from July 1 to July 14.
Singapore have been drawn into Group A for that competition, alongside Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and invited nation Australia.
Singapore Sailors
Dorcas Chu, Ernie Sulastri, Fatin Aqilah, Lila Tan, Nicole Lim, Venetia Lim, Noor Kusumawati, Nur Izzati, Nur Syazwani, Nur Umairah, Beatrice Tan, Danelle Tan
The Lion City Sailors women’s Deloitte Women’s Premier League (WPL) clash against Balestier Khalsa, which was initially scheduled to take place on Saturday (June 11) at Yishun Stadium, will be rescheduled to a later date.
This postponement comes in the wake of several Balestier players testing positive for Covid-19. The rescheduled date for this match will be announced in due time.
The Sailors, who beat Albirex Niigata (S) 4-1 in their opening WPL match last weekend, will now turn their attentions to the game against Hougang United at the Yishun Stadium on June 18.
Back in January this year, Venetia Lim tore a tendon in her foot after being tackled during training – an injury that subsequently kept the Singapore international out of action for close to four months.
While it was an unfortunate setback for the up-and-coming midfielder, Venetia refused to wallow in self-pity. Instead, she worked hard on her rehabilitation, and eventually recovered in time to be included in the Lionesses’ SEA Games squad.
Indeed, Venetia featured in all three of the Lionesses’ matches at the Games in Vietnam, starting two of them and coming on as a substitute during the team’s historic victory over Laos.
Now, the 18-year-old has her sights firmly set on helping the Lion City Sailors achieve their goals in the Singapore Women’s Premier League (WPL).
While Venetia was an unused substitute in the Sailors’ 4-1 win over Albirex Niigata (S) last weekend, she is hoping that her efforts in training will lead to her playing some part in the team’s next game against Balestier Khalsa at the Yishun Stadium.
“I’m looking forward to making my debut for the Sailors, but at the same time, I can’t help but feel a little nervous as well,” Venetia candidly admitted.
“Personally, I am very thankful towards coach Sheau Shyan for giving me this opportunity to be part of the Sailors. Having been injured for the past few months, I just hope that I will be able to contribute effectively to the team.”
While the Sailors’ margin of victory over Albirex was ultimately comfortable, they were pushed hard by the Jurong-based outfit, and head coach Yeong Sheau Shyan was keen to emphasise after the game that there was still room for improvement.
It is a sentiment that Venetia agrees with, although she firmly believes that the Sailors will get better with more games under their belt.
“I thought the team took some time to settle down, and Albirex put up a strong challenge,” Venetia mused. “But despite the short amount of time we had to gel with each other prior to the first match, I think we did well to settle down and execute the coach’s game plan.
“Now, I can see that the team is more comfortable playing with each other, and we are all determined to continue striving hard to achieve our goals.”
On a personal level, Venetia hopes her experience with the Sailors in the WPL this season will help her develop further – both on and off the pitch.
“I hope to grow and improve both as a football player and as a person,” she said. “All the seven teams in the WPL will be fighting hard for the win in every game, and will be vying for the championship.
“To be able to play these incredible teams, against some of the best players in Singapore, will definitely provide me with more match experience. It will also help me learn other aspects of the game, and give me exposure to diverse playing styles. These teams will put me to test and develop me through their respective means.”
For now, though, Venetia is simply focused on helping the Sailors get all three points against a potentially tricky Balestier side.
“Balestier is a strong team, and will undoubtedly be hungry for the win. Their aggressiveness and strength in the attacking third could pose problems for us, and I’m sure they’ll put up a good fight,” said Venetia.
“But we will approach the game by playing as a team. We have set the bar pretty high during the first game, so we have to build on that. As a team, we need to be confident, keep our composure, and concentrate on playing according to the coach’s game plan. If we do that, I’m confident it’ll increase our chances of winning the game.”
The Lion City Sailors made the perfect start to their debut Singapore Women’s Premier League (WPL) campaign on Sunday evening (5 June), beating Albirex Niigata (S) 4-1 at the Yishun Stadium.
A brace from Singapore international Nur Izzati Rosni, along with strikes from Dorcas Chu and Madison Telmer, were enough for the Sailors to pick up all three points, despite facing stiff resistance from Albirex in the first 45 minutes.
But while Sailors head coach Yeong Sheau Shyan was pleased with the win, she admits that there are still several areas she would like her side to improve on.
“Our chemistry needs to get better, and we need to sort out some of our set-pieces,” elaborated the 44-year-old, who added that the women are gunning for the WPL title this season.
“We also need to work on defending the long ball better, because that’s what we can expect more of in the matches ahead. We have to improve on our defensive transitions as well. So this means that when we lose the ball, we have to get back into our defensive positions quickly.”
Nonetheless, Sheau Shyan praised her charges for putting in a display that was “beyond expectations”, especially given the short runway that they had to prepare for the season.
“Our performance was beyond expectations because we were coming into the game cold, while the rest of the teams played their first game last week,” said Sheau Shyan. “Not only that, we’ve only had our national players back with us for two weeks (after the SEA Games). So all in all, this is a very good start for us.”
One of the players who stood out for the Sailors was Izzati, whose goal scoring heroics at the recent SEA Games helped create history for Singapore.
The 23-year-old scored the all-important opening goal for the Sailors just before half-time, before doubling her tally in the 86th minute to put the icing on the cake for her team.
Reflecting on the game, Izzati said: “Albirex were tough opponents who gave us a real challenge, especially in the first-half. But I think we managed to get back stronger, and were more creative in the second half. That’s where we managed to find the penetrative pass in the final third.
“To win 4-1, and on a personal level, to score two goals, is a really nice feeling. It’s a great start to the season, but we are all aware that there is still room for improvement.
“But I feel we have good chemistry in the team, with quality players in every position. That makes it much easier for us to play the game. We will work even harder to get better, so we can play entertaining, beautiful football for our fans, football that is deserving of the great support we’ve been getting.”
It was just barely a month ago when Nur Izzati Rosni entered her name into the history books with a dramatic winner against Laos to secure the Lionesses’ first win at the SEA Games since 1985.
Izzati’s goal, which came in the 95th minute of the match, was also the first that the Lionesses had scored since the 1995 edition of the Games.
The Lionesses’ impassioned and jubilant celebrations that followed showed just how much the goal, and victory, meant to the team.
And the player at the centre of it all, Izzati, intends to create more of such memories – both for the Lionesses, as well as her club side, the Lion City Sailors.
Credit: Sport Singapore/Dyan Tjhia
The Sailors’ women make their Singapore Women’s Premier League (WPL) debut on Sunday (5 June) against Albirex Niigata (S) at the Yishun Stadium.
“I’m overjoyed that I was able to score the winner, and that I was able to help Singapore to its first SEA Games victory in nearly 37 years,” said Izzati. “I didn’t know it then, but that goal meant that I’m the fourth player to ever score for the Lionesses at the SEA Games, which is a huge honour for me, and makes me really happy.
“This historic achievement has inspired me to keep working hard, and to make runs into good positions so I can score more goals in future matches, be it for the national team or for the Sailors.”
But Izzati’s SEA Games experience was more than just about that historic night. The 23-year-old also gained valuable exposure against regional opponents, and saw first-hand what it takes to play at the international level.
“I’ve learnt a lot about trust and discipline during our SEA Games campaign,” Izzati explained. “It is important for us to adopt and follow our coach’s game plans closely, no matter what they are. More importantly, we have to make certain that the team never gives up, and that we continue to cover for one another until the final whistle.
“These are just some of the lessons that I will take with me as I prepare myself for the upcoming WPL season with the Sailors.”
With the Sailors winning the Singapore Premier League (SPL) last year, Izzati is determined to achieve the same level of success in the WPL this season.
“The club’s goal is to be the best in Singapore by winning trophies, and implementing a certain style of play. So it is a true honour to be able to represent the Sailors in the WPL, and it motivates me to work harder and give it my all to bring success to the women’s team,” said Izzati.
The Sailors’ opposition on Sunday, Albirex, lost their opening game 2-1 to Tanjong Pagar last weekend, but Izzati is certain the Jurong-based outfit will not be easy opponents, and urged her team to remain switched on throughout the 90 minutes.
“Albirex have a few seasoned players who are very good defensively,” said Izzati. “But we are confident that we will be able to hold our own against them. All of us are excited for the game, and we can’t wait to play competitive local football again after such a long time.
“But for now, we are just focused on one game at a time, and we will do our best to get the three points against Albirex.”
Tajeli joins Geylang on loan
Lion City Sailors defender Tajeli Salamat has joined Geylang International on loan for the remainder of the Singapore Premier League (SPL) season.
The versatile 28-year-old who can play anywhere across the backline joined the Sailors in the club’s inaugural SPL season, after a successful 2019 that saw him help the now-defunct Warriors FC to a runners-up finish in the Singapore Cup.
Tajeli was part of the Sailors’ Class of 2021 that won the club’s first SPL title, with Kim Do-hoon’s men edging past Albirex Niigata (S) only on the final day of what was an exciting domestic football season.
His performances across 2021 earned him a call-up to Tatsuma Yoshida’s national squad for the year-ending AFF Suzuki Cup campaign that saw the Lions play their way into Singaporean hearts with a blood-and-guts performance in their semi-final loss to Indonesia.
Tajeli has made 36 appearances across three competitions for the Sailors, contributing two goals in the club’s inaugural season.
The Lion City Sailors might be making their debut in the Singapore Women’s Premier League (WPL) this season, but that has not stopped them from aiming high, as they look to emulate the men’s team by winning the league title.
It is not hard to see why the Sailors fancy their chances of becoming champions. Led by head coach Yeong Sheau Shyan, the Sailors boast a talented squad with a good blend of youth and experience that includes a number of Singapore internationals, including the likes of National Team captain Ernie Sulastri, up-and-coming midfielder Nur Izzati, as well as the likes of Dorcas Chu and Canadian Madison Telmer .
“In terms of results, we are gunning for the top,” declared Sheau Shyan. “But we are also more focused on the process. This is our maiden season, and the goal is to really get everyone training hard, understanding the way we want to play, and develop over the next three years.”
And the Sailors do not just want to win the WPL title – they want to do so in style, by playing an attacking and exciting brand of football.
“We want to come out and play good attacking football. After all, our belief is that football must be fun and entertaining,” Sheau Shyan said.
Since the Sailors’ inception in 2020, the club has established for itself a reputation of being an ambitious trailblazer, with the men’s team winning the Singapore Premier League (SPL) title last year, while also making history in their impressive maiden Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL) campaign last month.
Sheau Shyan admits that the success achieved by the club so far has raised expectations, calling for the women’s team to follow suit. She said: “I always have very high personal expectations for each season, but this is the first time I’ve felt any external pressure to perform.”
Sailors captain Ernie echoed the sentiment, as she added: “There is definitely added pressure on the team. There is a certain level that the public expects from us as we are representing the Sailors.
“However, if we stick together as a team, follow our coach’s strategic plans, give our best in every game and trust the process, then I’m confident that everything will fall into place for us.”
While the Sailors are among the favourites to win the WPL title, both Sheau Shyan and Ernie are well aware that it will not be an easy target to achieve.
For one, Covid-19 pandemic – which forced the WPL into a two-year hiatus – meant that the team had limited opportunities to train together, much less play matches.
“We are trying to get the team to gel in a short span of time,” Sheau Shyan explained. “As we were previously restricted by Covid-19 measures, we’re talking about a mere two weeks of full team training together in two years.”
Given the quality of the other six teams in the league, the Sailors can also expect stern competition for the WPL title.
“All the teams in the WPL are under high-calibre coaches whom I respect,” Ernie mused. “Under the guidance of these coaches, I believe all the teams will put on a good fight and perform to the best of their abilities, so every game will be a challenge for us.”
While the WPL season officially kicks off this weekend, the Sailors have to wait till next week before making their debut with a clash against Albirex Niigata (S).
Sheau Shyan hailed the Jurong-based outfit as an “experienced team…that plays direct football”, while Ernie believes that they will prove to be difficult to break down.
“We expect Albirex to play a more defensive, tactical style of football,” said Ernie. “It will not be an easy match, but we trust coach Sheau Shyan’s tactical plan will get us the victory. We just need to execute it well and do our best to make her proud.”
The Lion City Sailors will help fly the Singapore flag at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers in June.
Lions’ captain Hariss Harun will be joined by 11 of his Sailors’ teammates – Hassan Sunny, Amirul Adli, Iqram Rifqi, Nur Adam Abdullah, Shahdan Sulaiman, Adam Swandi, Hafiz Nor, Song Ui-young, Saifullah Akbar, Faris Ramli and Gabriel Quak – in new national team coach Takayuki Nishigaya’s first national squad.
The 27-strong squad will come together on Wednesday (25 May) for centralised training before flying to Abu Dhabi for a friendly with Kuwait. The Lions will then travel to the Kyrgyz Republic on 2 June where they will face the hosts, Tajikistan, and Myanmar in Group F of the qualifiers.
The six group winners and five best second-placed teams will advance to the 2023 Finals.
Singapore are looking to qualify for the Finals for the first time in the country’s history. The Lions’ sole appearance came in 1984 as hosts.
The Sailors go into Lions’ camp in good form, winning all three Singapore Premier League matches – a 4-3 win over Hougang United, 1-0 victory over Geylang International and a 4-0 thumping of Tampines Rovers – since returning from their AFC Champions League (ACL) campaign in Buriram, and will look to bring the same levels of performance to the national team.
The Lions leave for Abu Dhabi on Sunday (29 May).
Sailors in the Lions squad for the Asian Cup Qualifiers:
Hassan Sunny, Hariss Harun, Amirul Adli, Iqram Rifqi, Nur Adam Abdullah, Shahdan Sulaiman, Adam Swandi, Hafiz Nor, Song Ui-young, Saifullah Akbar, Faris Ramli, Gabriel Quak
