Footballers believe they are up to the task

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SINGAPORE - They will start their SEA Games medal quest before everyone else and local fans will hope Singapore's under-23 football team will be the athletes to take the final stage and win the Republic's last medal on Nov 21.

Singapore open their football campaign on Monday against arch-rivals Malaysia in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, four days before the official opening ceremony of the 26th SEA Games in Palembang.

Their target is a place in the finals, and if they do get there, they will be 90 minutes away from a first gold medal in football for Singapore at the SEA Games.

At the Team Singapore flag presentation ceremony yesterday at the SCAPE Sky Terrace, the footballers stood around their skipper Hariss Harun and coach Slobodan Pavkovic, soaking up the atmosphere before heading off for training.

Defender Safuwan Baharudin, 20, returned from the last SEA Games campaign with a bronze medal.

Eager to improve on that showing, he said: "We know there is a lot of pressure on us to perform, but we don't want to put too much pressure on ourselves. We are reminding ourselves to stay calm on the field and simply do our own jobs."

Goalkeeper Jasper Chan, 23, is on his last SEA Games assignment.

"I believe this team have the potential to go very far, we just need to believe in ourselves."

Singapore, drawn in Group A, will begin their campaign on Nov 7 against Malaysia. Following that, they will face Cambodia (Nov 9), hosts Indonesia (Nov 11) and Thailand (Nov 17). Group B features Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Philippines and Brunei.

The target is to survive the "Group of Death" with at least a second-place finish.

The top two advance to the semi-finals, and Games debutant Zulfahmi Arifin is relishing the challenge.

"To be the best you've got to beat the best," the 20-year-old said. "Everyone's been giving 100 per cent in training. It's been great working with (coach) Slobodan, we've been learning a lot from him."

Acting Minister for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports Chan Chun Sing had a special message for the players, when he said: "In every football match that the Singapore team plays we want them to do well, and whether win or lose we will always be behind our team."