By Dan Azmie

AYG Football Squad

18 players made the cut from a provisional squad of 30. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)

Jalan Besar Stadium, Friday, June 12, 2009 – David Sivalingam, head coach of the national Under-14 football team, today announced his final squad of 18 players who will represent Singapore in the upcoming Asian Youth Games.

The squad of players, who have been in centralised training for the past four months, was whittled down from a provisional 30.

As hosts, Singapore automatically receives a bye into the final round of eight countries and will play in Group A. The preliminary round kicks off on June 20.

“I feel thankful to God for the opportunity, and this makes me even more fired up to put in my best performance for the team!” said defender Muhamad Amirul Iskandar, one of the selected 18.

Team captain, centreback Jeffrey Adam Lightfoot, said he felt “proud and privileged to be given the rare chance of playing for the national team” and the Cubs will spare no effort to make their country and families proud.

The young Cubs will start their football journey come June 27.

N.B. Look out for another story on the football team in the coming weeks.

Singapore AYG Squad

Goalkeepers: Md Fashah Iskandar (Singapore Sports School), Hamzah Fazil (Hong Kah Sec)

Defenders: Md Firdaus Md Sham (Hong Kah Sec), Md Amirul Iskandar, Syazwan Radhi Kasim, Md Izwan Abdul Rahman (Singapore Sports School), Jeffrey Adam Lightfoot (C) (Victoria School), Md Nurhidayat (Northlight School), Dhukhilan Jeevamani (Punggol Sec)

Midfielders: Ammirul Emmran Mazlan (Hong Kah Sec), Brandon Koh Kim Leong, Md Adri Adnan, Md Irfan Asyraf (Singapore Sports School), Sunny Ng Qiu Yang (St Gabriel Sec), Tan Zen Yang Jonathan (Tanjong Katong Sec)

Forwards: Md Syazwan Md Zin (Greenview Sec), Md Hanafi Md Akbar, Md Muhaimin Suhaimi (Singapore Sports Sch)