Contributed by Isaac Christian

Singapore, Friday, September 24, 2010 — The Singapore Asian Games national U-23 football team will be travelling to Ho Chi Minh City on 26 September for the Eximbank Cup in Vietnam. With the Asian Games fast approaching, Singapore will face a stern test as they play the Olympic teams of Iran, Malaysia, and host Vietnam in preparation for the Guangzhou Asian Games this November.

From the 20 players named by national coach Raddy Avramovic, Balestier Khalsa midfielder Syafiq Zainal, NFA U-18 striker Al-Qaasimy Abdul Rahman and SAFFC forward Erwan Gurnawan are all poised to make their debut as they travel with the squad for the first time. Erwan will be most remembered for scoring the winner for SAFFC against Chinese Henan Jianye, giving Singapore our first ever victory in the AFC Asian Champions League in April.

“We have brought in some new players to the team and this tournament will give them the ideal opportunity to gain some valuable international exposure while giving us the chance to test these players against some very good opponents. Furthermore, for some of the new players called up, this trip is a good platform for the team to take shape cohesively as a unit,” said Raddy.

Singapore will kick start their campaign against Asian powerhouses Iran on Tuesday, 28 September before playing host Vietnam on Thursday, 30 September. They will end the tournament against neighbours Malaysia on Saturday, 2 October before returning to Singapore the next day.

Match Details
Iran v Singapore
Date: 28 September 2010 (Tuesday)
Time: 4.00pm (local time)
Venue: Thong Nhat Stadium

Vietnam v Singapore
Date: 30 September 2010 (Thursday)
Time: 6.30pm (local time)
Venue: Thong Nhat Stadium

Singapore v Malaysia
Date: 2 October 2010 (Saturday)
Time: 4.00pm (local time)
Venue: Thong Nhat Stadium

Note: Vietnam is 1 hour behind Singapore.

Singapore Asian Games Team

Goalkeepers
Izwan Mahbud (Young Lions)
*Lionel Lewis (Home United)

Defenders
Shakir Hamzah (NFA U18)
*Daniel Bennett (SAFFC)
Hidhir Hasbiallah (Gombak United)
Eddie Affendy Chang (Young Lions)
Afiq Yunos (Young Lions)

Midfielders
Syafiq Zainal (Balestier Khalsa)
Faritz Abdul Hameed (Young Lions)
Hafiz Abu Sujad (Young Lions)
Nazrul Ahmad Nazari (Young Lions)
Zulfahmi Arifin (Young Lions)
Hariss Harun (Young Lions)
Firdaus Kasman (Home United)

Strikers
Erwan Gunawan (SAFFC)
Al-Qaasimy Abdul Rahman (NFA U18)
Rizawan Abdullah (Woodlands Wellington)
Eugene Luo (Young Lions)
Fadhil Noh (Young Lions)
Khalili D’cruz (Young Lions)

* indicates over-aged players included in squad