The Lion City Sailors are well-represented in Tatsuma Yoshida’s 27-man provisional Singapore squad for December’s Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup 2020 that was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
(Photo credit: Football Association of Singapore)
From Lions’ captain Hariss Harun to Tajeli Salamat, the Sailors will see 12 players who are in line to fly the Singapore flag as the Lions prepare for their 13th campaign in Southeast Asia.
Hassan Sunny, Amirul Adli, Nur Adam Abdullah, Adam Swandi, Saifullah Akbar, Shahdan Sulaiman, Song Ui-young, Faris Ramli, Gabriel Quak and Hafiz Nor, are the other Sailors competing to make the final squad that will represent the Republic at the tourney that will be hosted on Singapore shores between 5 December 2021 and 1 January 2022.
The squad will commence centralised training from 25 October, two weeks after the Singapore Premier League season ends. The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) is exploring opportunities for friendly matches and a training camp with details to be announced at a later date.
Up to 30 players can be registered for the final tournament squad, which will be confirmed at the end November.
Nur Adam and Saifullah – two of the three players nominated for the AIA Singapore Premier League Young Player of the Year award – are also included in Nazri Nasir’s provisional Singapore Under-22 squad that is charged to qualify for the finals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-23 Asian Cup 2022 for first time in Singapore history.
The qualifiers for that tournament will be hosted in the Lion City later this month, from 25-31 October.
Singapore has won four titles in the 12 editions of the AFF Suzuki Cup, just one behind Thailand who are the most successful side in the region. Vietnam, widely regarded as Southeast Asia’s dominant side of recent times, has two racked up two wins, with the Lions’ Causeway rivals, Malaysia, winning once in 2010.
Sailors in Tatsuma Yoshida’s Lions’ squad:
Goalkeepers: Hassan Sunny
Defenders: Amirul Adli, Nur Adam Abdullah, Tajeli Salamat
Midfielders: Hariss Harun, Saifullah Akbar, Shahdan Sulaiman, Song Ui-young, Adam Swandi
Forwards: Faris Ramli, Gabriel Quak, Hafiz Nor
