Written by: Khalis Rifhan

Although Courts Young Lions’ Al-Qaasimy Rahman, M.Anumanthan and Sahil Suhaimi are eligible for the Under-23 squad, national team coach Bernd Stange has chosen the trio to join up with the senior team for their Austria training trip from 7 to 23 July.

Both the national team and U23 will be travelling up to Austria together and play a series of friendly matches against European opponents.

“These players are the future of Singapore. Anu is a very commanding player. He can play in the heart of defence and midfield and is very consistent. Al-Qaasimy showed leadership for his team and Sahil, you know what he can do in front of goal,” said Stange after watching the Young Lions put on a brilliant performance in their 3-1 win against Woodlands Wellington.

Stange also revealed that although they announced two squads, the seniors and U23, he will not hesitate to give U23 coach Aide Iskandar any of his players should he require them in Austria.

“There are lots of young players that are coming up into the national team. We do not have a straight and rigid border for the national team or the U23. We are one team and we go with both teams for the trip. I am happy to have this team to play against the European opponents,” explained the German.

“We can and will shift players from U23 to national team if needed. This is one big family. We train and learn together.

“We have Shakir Hamzah, Shafiq Ghani and Faris Ramli in our national team. They can play in next year’s SEA Games. There is a good chance I will give Aide those players for a match,” added Stange.

Stange went on further and commented; “The youngsters are on the good way, we play my way of football, but they need time. Now we focus on the AFF Championship, SEA Games and the Olympic’s qualification next year. My target is to make a foundation from this team for the 2019 Asian Cup.”