Singapore squad for AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup announced

SINGAPORE: Singapore men's national football team head coach Takayuki Nishigaya has named his squad for the upcoming ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Mitsubishi Electric Cup.

The 23-man squad includes a mix of mainstays and new faces, including five players who will be part of a Lions squad at the regional tournament for the first time, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) said in a media release on Tuesday (Dec 20).

The five are: Defenders Christopher van Huizen, Joshua Pereira and Ryhan Stewart, and midfielders Shah Shahiran and Farhan Zulkifli.

Veteran goalkeeper Hassan Sunny will head to an AFF Championship with the Lions for a record ninth time, FAS said.

Ikhsan Fandi and Adam Swandi will miss the tournament through injury, while Taufik Suparno withdrew due to family reasons.

Singapore were drawn in Group B of the tournament and will face Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Malaysia. Group A consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.

"The squad had commenced a final phase of preparations from Dec 1 with a 12-day training camp in Chiba, Japan," FAS said.

"There, the Lions played three training matches – one against J3 League side YSCC Yokohama and two against Ryutsu Keizai University."

The final warm-up match was an international friendly against the Maldives last Saturday, which Singapore won 3-1.

Nishigaya, who took over as head coach in April, said that he had confidence in his side.

"It is important that all the players have tremendous commitment and desire to play for the Lions, and having observed the players since selecting the provisional squad, I have full confidence in this final squad to overcome any challenges as one," he said.

"It was not easy to make the selection choices but I believe that we have improved over the past few months and will continue to do so in the tournament."

While Nishigaya said that his side wants to go as far as possible in the tournament, they would concentrate on taking it game by game, starting with their opening match against Myanmar.

"Everyone understands that the first game against Myanmar is important for us to set the tone and especially at home, we want to show what we can do in front of the fans – I want us to play together with the fans, and win together," he said.

Captain Hariss Harun offered some insight into the mood around the Lions camp.

"The final preparations over the past few weeks have gone well and we are looking forward to applying everything we have learned from the training camp and Maldives friendly to the tournament," he said.

"Our team spirit has always been our strongest asset and to go far in the tournament, we have to be very focused and believe in ourselves, as well as each other.

"There are some young but talented players in this team and while the seniors will guide them, at the end of the day everyone has to do their part because we are playing for Singapore – we have a duty to give our all for the country."

Hariss also looked ahead to the clash with Myanmar.

"It is great to start our campaign at home. At Jalan Besar, the fans are close to the pitch and the atmosphere is terrific, which we have to utilise to our full advantage," he said.

"As four-time champions, we have a history in the tournament and winning is a challenge we have to take up."

The 2022 AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup kicks off on Tuesday and will run until Jan 16. Matches will be played in cities across Southeast Asia in the same home-and-away format previously seen during the 2018 tournament, with Brunei playing their home fixtures at the KLFA Stadium in Malaysia.

The Lions will begin their campaign against Myanmar at the Jalan Besar Stadium at 6pm on Saturday.

They will then travel to Vientiane to take on Laos at 5pm local time (6pm Singapore time) on Dec 27 before returning to the Jalan Besar Stadium to face Vietnam at 8.30pm on Dec 30.

Their fourth and final group stage match will be a showdown with Malaysia at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur at 8.30pm on Jan 3, 2023.

Originally known as the Tiger Cup from 1996 to 2004, the tournament was renamed the Suzuki Cup in 2008 after one staging as the ASEAN Football Championship in 2007.

Mitsubishi Electric took over as the tournament's title sponsor in May.

The last edition of the tournament, held in Singapore from Dec 5, 2021, to Jan 1, 2022 saw Thailand claim their sixth title after a 6-2 aggregate win over Indonesia in the final.

Singapore were eliminated in the semi-finals after a 5-3 aggregate loss to Indonesia.

Singapore squad for the 2022 AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup

Goalkeepers: Hassan Sunny (Lion City Sailors), Syazwan Buhari (Tampines Rovers), Zaiful Nizam (Geylang International)

Defenders: Amirul Adli (Lion City Sailors), Christopher van Huizen (Tampines Rovers), Hariss Harun (Lion City Sailors), Irfan Fandi (BG Pathum United), Joshua Pereira (Geylang International), Nazrul Nazari (Hougang United), Ryhan Stewart (Chiangmai FC), Shakir Hamzah (Hougang United)

Midfielders: Farhan Zulkifli (Hougang United), Hafiz Nor (Lion City Sailors), Hami Syahin (Lion City Sailors), M Anumanthan (Lion City Sailors), Shahdan Sulaiman (Lion City Sailors), Shah Shahiran (Young Lions), Song Ui-young (Lion City Sailors), Zulfahmi Arifin (Hougang United)

Forwards: Amy Recha (Hougang United), Faris Ramli (Lion City Sailors), Ilhan Fandi (Albirex Niigata), Shawal Anuar (Hougang United)