The Hungry Young Lions

U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers a chance to justify their SEA Games reprieve

- Deepanraj Ganesan

The headlines in recent years have not been kind to Singapore's Young Lions.

At the last SEA Games in 2023, the football team finished bottom of their group with one draw and three defeats, including a 7-0 mauling by Malaysia.

And on Aug 6, they were in the spotlight for the wrong reasons when the Singapore National Olympic Council omitted the national Under-22 side from the initial list of athletes bound for the Dec 9-20 SEA Games in Thailand.

After earning a reprieve following a successful appeal, the Young Lions are raring to prove their worth when they embark on their first major test of the year in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-23 Asian Cup qualifiers.

Coach Firdaus Kassim recalled the players' disappointment on hearing the news that they had missed the cut "because in local football, SEA Games is one of the highlights of a career".

"But this is something that we have no control over. So we put our sole focus on football and we were never distracted."

He noted the team now had "more hunger", especially with the U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers looming.

Captain Amir Syafiz agreed, noting the eagerness within the camp to prove that they deserved to make the cut.