SINGAPORE PREMIER LEAGUE
Home United v Young Lions
Bishan Stadium, 5.30pm
They had a taste of blood, and now the Young Lions want more.
Tipped by many to struggle in the Singapore Premier League (SPL) this season, Fandi Ahmad's charges pulled off a massive upset last week when they beat a Hougang United team boasting several senior national players 2-1.
The young guns, lying seventh in the nine-team table, are hoping to build on the victory when they take on sixth-placed and SPL pre-season title hopefuls Home United today at the Bishan Stadium.
Striker Saifullah Akbar, who scored the winning goal against Hougang, said he and many of his teammates benefited from a three-week overseas stint with the national Under-22 team, also coached by Fandi.
Fifteen Young Lions players were among the 24-strong U-22 squad that went on a two-week training camp in Shizuoka, Japan, before playing qualification matches in Mongolia for next year's AFC Under-23 Championship.
Singapore failed to progress to next year's finals after finishing second in their group. They had drawn 1-1 with Hong Kong and North Korea and beaten Mongolia 3-1.
Saifullah, 20, said: "In Japan and Mongolia, we played against opponents who were physically, tactically and technically stronger.
"Doing well on both trips gave us the belief we could match the top SPL teams when we returned here. And that has been key - belief."
Young Lions skipper Joshua Pereira added: "In Japan, we had double training sessions every day, and did not have outside distractions we have back in Singapore like school, work or National Service.
"The win against Hougang felt exceptional, but we know we have to keep our feet on the ground and try to do it again in our next game against Home."
Fandi, 56, refused to get carried away by the win over Hougang - in pre-season, he had simply targeted avoiding the wooden spoon - but added that he was pleased with the competition among his players.
He said: "Everyone wants a place in the team, and everyone's fighting for it.
"The SEA Games (in the Philippines from Nov 30-Dec 11) is the next big target and the players are all eager to prove themselves."
Despite his team's fine form, Fandi said they will start today's match as the underdogs.
Home have kept three straight clean sheets and also defeated Laotian champions Lao Toyota 1-0 in the AFC Cup on Tuesday.
But Home coach Saswadimata Dasuki is fretting over his attack.
Last season's 13-goal forward Shahril Ishak and Australian midfielder Isaka Cernak are sidelined with ankle injuries while South Korean midfielder Song Ui-yong, with 10 goals last campaign, is struggling with a groin problem.
Saswadimata said he was impressed by the Young Lions, noting: "They were very disciplined and very organised, both defensively and going forward.
"They are young, but they compensate by working really hard for each other and being organised.
"We will find it tough to break the Young Lions down."
Ex-Dutch youth international Maguire seeks soaring start with Geylang : Ex-Utrecht and ex-Dutch youth international, out with injury for 2 years, wants to rebuild
DANIEL MAGUIRE PAPERS // Archives // Raynor Memorial
Reds must rediscover passion: Klopp. derby (on Sunday), which is a very emotional game. "He can have his own opinion," the Norwegian said of Klopp. "We had a good performance, defensively
Brighton's message to Reds fans ahead of the final day
Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid recorded victories in La Liga on Saturday. Gareth Bale's last-gasp penalty stole an unconvincing 2-1 win for Real at Cordoba after Cristiano Ronaldo had
Pablo Fornals' Late Show Stuns Frustrated Champions
Backline conundrum for Arsenal's Emery in Wolves' lair
Premier League investigates Man City over FFP allegations. Reuters. 8 March 2019. Reblog. Share. Tweet. Share. Soccer Football - Premier League - AFC Bournemouth v Manchester City - Vitality
Pep Guardiola on Juventus, Man City FFP allegations, Antoine
Football: Liverpool held at Everton to surrender top spot in Premier League Liverpool now trail champions Manchester City by a point at the top of the Premier League with nine games remaining.
Liverpool held at Everton to surrender top spot in Premier
Chelsea boss Sarri baffled by 6-0 humbling at Man City dropped to their lowest position of the season to sixth after losing to Manchester City. fantastic football and we made a lot of
Chelsea boss Sarri baffled by 6-0 humbling at Man City
DUBAI: Son Heung-min's South Korea needed an extra-time winner to beat world ranked 113th Bahrain 2-1 as they stumbled into the Asian Cup quarter-finals in unconvincing fashion on Tuesday.
Son 'unhappy' as Koreans given fright by Bahrain's part-timers
England boss Phil Neville says he will be "ruthless" when it comes to picking his squad for the Women's World Cup. The Lionesses beat Spain 2-1 on Tuesday in the second of four warm-up games for
Neville unleashes hairdryer to slam Lionesses for - The Sun
Two goals in two minutes has seen the Socceroos comfortably dispatch Palestine 3-0 at the Asian Cup. Socceroos bounce back at the Asian Cup with Palestine win | Sporting News Australia
Socceroos bounce back with comfortable win over Palestine
Rice scores first Hammers goal to defeat Arsenal. The victory in Saturday's early kick-off saw the Hammers move up to eighth in the Premier League table, on 31 points, ahead of the bulk of the
Rice Scores First Hammers Goal To Defeat Arsenal - iAfrica.com
Man City's Sterling treated differently by British media, says Pogba. Sports when asked whether the media treated Sterling differently because of the colour of his skin. say racism in
Man City's Sterling treated differently by British media
Football: Bournemouth's Nathan Ake strikes late to sink nine-man Tottenham BOURNEMOUTH, UNITED KINGDOM (AFP) - Nine-man Tottenham Hotspur's bid for Champions League football was rocked on Saturday (May 4) after Nathan Ake's last-gasp winner punished red cards for Son Heung-min and Juan Foyth and condemned Spurs to a 1-0 Premier League defeat at
Bournemouth 1-0 Tottenham, Ake strikes late to sink nine-man
Football: PSG thrash Dijon in first outing since Champions League nightmare PARIS (AFP) - Paris Saint-Germain shook off their Champions League hangover and resumed their canter towards another French Ligue 1 football title on Tuesday (March 12), as they cruised to a 4-0 win in Dijon.
PSG Win in First Outing Since Champions League Nightmare
0 comments:
Post a Comment