Tech Team Type: FIRST TEAM STAFF
Interim Sailors coach Luka Lalić brings with him European experience from his time as Feyenoord Rotterdam’s Head of Methodology and International Development coach, before he took up the role of Technical Director at the Sailors Academy in June 2020. Prior to leaving for Feyenoord in 2016, the 35-year-old had worked in Singapore for seven years – starting up an academy called Turf City FC, before going on to work as fitness coach of Balestier Khalsa and assistant coach of Woodlands Wellington respectively. Luka will be in charge of the Sailors’ first-team until the club finds a permanent head coach replacement.
Huong joins the Lion City Sailors from continental football governing body, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), this after a stellar career in football administration dating back to 2008.
She adds regional and international football administrative experience to the Sailors backroom, having been a Match Commissioner at various competitions, including the Women’s football competition at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics; and also a General Coordinator at multiple Asian Games football competitions, from Guangzhou in 2010 to Incheon (2014) and Jakarta (2018).
Huong is no stranger to Singapore football, either.. She has served as SPL Match Commissioner, and also a Competitions Manager for the International Champions Cup in 2018 and 2019 featuring the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain.
As a child, Nigel dreamed of being a professional footballer, but while that did not pan out, he is now combining his love for football with his knack for crunching data, in what he calls his dream job – a Performance Analyst with the Lion City Sailors.
Previously a Product Manager at Shopee, Nigel developed a Tableau story dashboard analysing Wyscout’s match performance data of the Sailors, and identified virtually identical areas for improvement as the club did in its own analysis.
This “amateur” project caught the eye of the Sailors, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Firdaus Maasar brings English Premier League experience to the Sailors, having worked in world class setups at Liverpool, as well at Wolverhampton Wanderers and Huddersfield Town. His experience at the world-renown Aspire Academy in Qatar puts him in good stead to contribute to the Sailors’ first team driving for on-field success, as well as the club’s aspirations of nurturing the next generation of elite Singapore football talents.
In the 10 years that she served in the national football setup, Fizah’s personal touch and fervent dedication to her craft earned her the reputation of the Florence Nightingale of local football – and one of the best physiotherapists in the country.
The former national youth netballer has set her sights on developing high-level sports science and sports medicine expertise in the country, a vision very much aligned with the Sailors’. Fizah joined the club in July 2021, with exactly that mission – supporting the club’s drive for football excellence by building a sturdy support structure of sports science and sports medicine – while she continues to support the national football cause during FIFA international windows
Having previously worked with some of the best talents in European and Asian football, Mario knows just what it takes for a player to reach the top level. As Head of Sports Science, Mario’s long-term aim is to develop the Sailors’ training process, so as to maximise the potential of the players. On a day-to-day basis, Mario and his specialist team of strength and conditioning coaches, as well as sports trainers, focuses on optimising player conditioning, while also helping players recover from injury.
A former Singapore international whose professional playing career spanned nearly 15 years, Winston is a familiar face to fans of local football in the 2000s. Having transitioned to a coaching career after his retirement, Winston has established himself as a dedicated and reliable coach who has a passion for developing youth players. Now with the Lion City Sailors as the assistant coach to our Under-21 team, Winston will be hoping to develop the next generation of football stars for both the club, as well as for the Singapore National Team.
Fathul is an accomplished Sports Therapist whose main task is to help our players recover from their injuries as quickly as possible. Knowledgeable and thorough, Fathul is an integral part of the Lion City Sailors’ Sports Science team.
ssA former national Sepak Takraw player who represented Singapore at the SEA Games, Danial is no stranger to the demands of high performance sports. That experience serves Danial, who has a Bachelor of Science from Edith Cowan University, in good stead in his role as Lion City Sailors’ Sports Scientist. Armed with a deep understanding of what top level athletes need in order to excel, Danial’s main task at the Sailors is to make sure that our players are operating at their optimum performance levels when they take the field for a game.
A long-time supporter of the Lion City Sailors, from back when it was known as Home United, Daniel’s main goal is to help the club he loves reach the pinnacle of football in Singapore and the region. As the club’s data analyst, he uses numbers and statistics to paint a more holistic picture of what is happening on the pitch for the technical team.
