Written by: Shawn Lim

With a rock-solid Fabian Kwok in the heart of defence and a wizard in the form of Hafiz Nor rampaging down the flanks, Geylang International came from behind to beat Harimau Muda 2-1 at Pasir Gudang Stadium.

Geylang coach Jorg Steinebrunner was full of praise for Kwok, who is a midfielder by trade, and Hafiz after the game. He also urged Singapore national team’s selectors to give his players their first call-up.

“I am very pleased with Fabian, who played in a centre-back position. He played in the same position in the last game against Woodlands for a few minutes. Well, I read the papers today and I see that there is a need for a centre-back in the national team after the game against Macau,” said Steinebrunner.

“Fabian read the game very well today, intercepted a lot balls and made good decisions in his passing. We also know what Hafiz is all about, his speed and his trickery. So I sincerely hope that both of them will play in the national team because their performances today cannot be overlooked”

Despite his side taking home all three points, Steinebrunner insisted there was still room for improvement for the Eagles.

“I think we had good build ups and attacking moves. There was once or twice we could have made better decisions, either get an early ball in or taken an early shot. So I think we need to work on our decision making,” the German explained.

His opposite counterpart, Razip Ismail, lamented his side’s lack of concentration for their defeat to Geylang at home.

“I am very disappointed because we played well, but due to our lack of concentration, we made mistakes that resulted in the first and second goal,” Razip explained.

The Young Tigers also went a man down during the latter stages of the game, but Razip accepted that it was purely bad luck.

“I think Nor’s first touch of the ball was bad and he couldn’t avoid the goalkeeper. The incident happened so fast,” he said.