After making their respective debuts at Asean’s premier football tournament when they turned out for the senior Lions at last year’s Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup, Nur Adam Abdullah and Saifullah Akbar return to international action with the Republic’s Under-23s.

Nazri Nasir has called up a 29-man provisional squad for the 14-26 February AFF Under-23 Championship in Cambodia. The final squad of 23 will be named before the team’s departure on 12 February.

The 11 participating teams were split into three groups, with Singapore facing Thailand and Vietnam in the three-team Group C.

Nur Adam enjoyed a breakthrough 2021 at left-back, and was named the Singapore Premier League’s (SPL) Young Player of the Year, while attacking midfielder Saifullah – the SPL’s Young Player of the Year in 2020 – ended the year with four goals and three assists.

Singapore’s U23s finished as runners-up in the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2005, behind winners Thailand.