The Singapore Men’s National Team will prepare for the next important tournaments of their career by playing a practice match against Malaysia, also known as the Causeway Derby. This match is set to happen on Sept 4 at Bukit Jalil National Stadium.
This practice match aims to improve the performance of the team as they get ready for their matches against India in October in the Asian Cup qualifiers. Moreover, interim head coach Gavin Lee is guiding the team for the very first time. With this, the coach expressed that it is an honour for him to manage the national team, and that he doesn’t ‘take that responsibility lightly.’
“Every game comes with a role we need to fulfil, and we expect the maximum from ourselves. That will not change,” Lee added.
In a social media post, athlete Irfan Fandi expressed his determination to help the team in the upcoming match. He stated: “Every time you get called up, it’s an honour. And I’m really happy to be back. It [has been] a long time since I’ve been in the National Team, and I’ve been working really hard on my comeback. This year, I had to really focus on all my injuries, and I had a really good pre-season, so I’m happy to be playing again and I’m happy to contribute.”
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Fandi also believes that the team is strong and that all of them should believe in themselves.
Furthermore, defender Safuwan Baharudin also declared: “I think with all due respect, we are there, not for the Causeway Derby. We are here for a purpose. We are here to test ourselves, to see the best possible solutions that we can get for the October period.”
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About their opponent
Currently, Malaysia is ranked 125th in the FIFA world rankings and is led by Peter Cklamovski, who used to guide Australia and helped them win the Asian Cup in 2015.
The coach also chose the 29 players who will be participating in the Malaysian team. Several of the players have family ties to Malaysia but play for other countries, such as Facundo Garces, who is an athlete for the Spanish team Deportivo Alaves.
More so, the team also has strong local players like winger Arif Aiman and defender Harith Haiqal.
The last time Singapore and Malaysia played against each other ended in a tough 0-0 draw. This result helped Singapore move to the semifinals of the 2024 ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup.
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