Birthday boy Shahfiq looks set to lead frontline
A fortnight ago, his dazzling performance which earned him a brace against Geylang United caught the eye of Old Trafford legend, Eric Cantona. Last night, young forward Shahfiq Ghani celebrated his 19th birthday with his teammates at the Danat Al-Ain Resort in UAE and his immediate wish is to see Singapore through to the next round of the Olympic qualifiers.
As the Courts Young Lions top scorer this season, Shahfiq has been in impressive form of late and looks likely to pose a potent threat to the Yemeni defence ahead of tomorrow’s first-leg tie against Yemen.
“I was really surprised by the gesture but honestly all I am focused about here is the match against Yemen. Most importantly, we must get a good result during the first leg and if I get to score at least one goal in both legs, it will be a bonus” said Shahfiq.
With a majority of the players called up from the Courts Young Lions, Singapore received a boost earlier when custodian Izwan Mahbud was given the go-ahead after being released from his National Service commitments. Joining him is talismanic skipper Hariss Harun who has made good progress on the road to recovery after sustaining a fractured fibula back in November.
Incidentally, Hariss is the only player in the current squad to feature in the Singapore squad that was eliminated by Pakistan in the previous Olympic campaign back in February 2007. Singapore was ousted 3-2 (agg.) by the Pakistanis and the 20-year-old is keen to brush aside memories of his previous campaign.
The 20-year-old, who would have missed the tournament due to his final term exams had it not been for the postponement, is hoping to lead his charges towards victory this time round.
“Personally I think we have been shaping well and we aim to get a positive result from the first leg. We are beginning to acclimatise ourselves to the weather here and we will get better as we progress during the training sessions. Leading the team out as captain this time, nothing would give me a greater sense of joy and pride than to get to the next round”, he added.
Although little is known of the Saturday’s opponents, the Yemenis fared better in the previous campaign - having made it through to the Group stages after defeating Palestine in the preliminaries.
Coach Radojko Avramovic said: “From before, we have always known that Yemen has quality players especially at the youth level. They have a couple of players who can pose a danger but we must focus on our game. They have been preparing for this game since February 20th when they played Kuwait. I expect them to close us down quickly and play a very physical game.”
“We have been working on a few plays of our own and brushing up on the tactical areas in training and as long as we concentrate on ourselves, we have a good chance to get the result. As always, our philosophy is go out and attack. We must now bring to the match what we have been practising in training. We must try to go score goals.”
Singapore Probable Line-up: Izwan Mahbud, Yasir Hanapi, Shakir Hamzah, Shahir Hamzah, Afiq Yunos, Nazrul Ahmad Nazari, Hariss Harun, Izzdin Shafiq, Navin Nigel Vanu, Shahfiq Ghani, Fazli Ayob
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