NAKAMURA IN, FANDIS OUT

Ikhsan, Ilhan and Irfan miss out on Lions friendlies, are Asean c'ship doubts

- Deepanraj Ganesan

Barely two weeks after getting his Singapore passport, Kyoga Nakamura received his first call-up on Nov 6 after national football coach Tsutomu Ogura revealed his 26-man squad for the international friendlies in November.

The Lions will face Myanmar at the National Stadium on Nov 14, before taking on Chinese Taipei four days later at the same venue. The fixtures will serve as the final tune-up for the team before the Dec 8-Jan 5 Asean Football Federation (AFF) Championship, which is now known as the Asean Mitsubishi Electric Cup (ME Cup).

Japan-born midfielder Nakamura, 28, attained his Singaporean citizenship on Oct 25 and is set to make his Lions debut. The BG Tampines Rovers player participated in a familiarisation stint with the team in September and joined them for a 10-day training camp in Japan a month later.

Lions captain Hariss Harun said of the inclusion of Nakamura: "Kyoga has proven himself as one of the most consistent foreigners in the league for the past few seasons. He is also someone who has good personality and has shown the desire to represent Singapore.

"I'm optimistic his presence will help lift the team going forward."