Tuesday 3 June 2014

Some thoughts from National Team Head Coach Bernd Stange & Captain Khairul Amri regarding the match between France vs Singapore [6-0]

Photo: Football Association of Singapore

A youthful Singapore National Team (average age 22.3) lost 0-6 to a very strong France U21 team boasting players from top European clubs like Lyon, Paris St. Germain, Marseille and Athletic Bilbao.

Here are some thoughts from National Team Head Coach Bernd Stange:
"It was great for us to play against one of the top European U21 teams. The France U21 team was filled with players from top clubs in Europe like Chelsea, Athletic Bilbao and Paris St Germain. It was a great experience, not only for our players but also for our team officials as well. The game against France showed us the level we will need to aim for. France showed us fast passing, combination football and dominating the game with unbelievable physical power. For the first 20 minutes we matched them but they stepped up with more power and speed and showed us our limits. Such a game gives us more than friendlies in our region because France has set the standards for many international teams. I would be pleased to play more of these high level football in preparation for AFF Suzuki Cup and the SEA Games."

Khairul Amri, who was captain at the match, said:
"We need this type of games to prepare for our title defence of the AFF Suzuki Cup as well as preparation for our younger players for next year's SEA Games. I believe games like this will improve our younger boys tremendously. There will be a gradual step by step improvement by playing these games. We only trained for 1 week in preparation for this game but if we had more time together, we could have gotten a better result. 6-0 doesn’t look good on paper but we have learnt a lot in this game and gained so much experience."

Singapore XI: Izwan Mahbud; Faritz Hameed, Madhu Mohana, Afiq Yunos, Shakir Hamzah; Anumanthan, Raihan Rahman, Faris Ramli, Shahfiq Ghani; Khairul Amri (C), Sahil Suhaimi.

Bench: Hassan Sunny, Al-Qaasimy, Delwinder Singh, Zulfahmi Arifin, Aqhari Abdullah, Amirul, Ammirul Emmran.

Source: Footballl Association of Singapore Facebook Page 

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