Written by: Muhammad Yazid
Six Great Eastern Yeo’s S.League football players made their maiden official international appearance for Singapore in an international friendly match against Papua New Guinea.
Five of the players, namely Fadli Kamis, Al-Qaasimy Rahman, Amirul Adli, Iqbal Hussain and Shameer Aziq, were from the league’s developmental squad Courts Young Lions.The only exception was Warriors FC Suria Prakash, who came off the bench in a game which ended 2-1 in favour of Singapore.
Aide Iskandar was the man-in-charge of the Singapore side for the night and he was encouraged by what he saw from the debutants.
“They all had a decent account of themselves and they did prove that they deserve this call-up,” a satisfied Aide remarked.
“Their good performances in the S.League helped them achieve this debut. Amirul came on in the second half and did well for an 18-year-old while Suria showed some promising moves and play.”
While Suria may have earned Aide’s praises, the youngster revealed that he was startled at first to have been called upon during the match.
“I was shocked that I was called up to step into the pitch even before half-time for the injured Zulfahmi Arifin, this game is a huge morale-booster for me,” Suria shared.“I think I fared well in the debut and I very happy for the opportunity. “I hope that I would get more chances to play in more games and I should start providing and scoring goals.”