Story by Zachary Foo/Red Sports
The NFA U-18 boys represented Singapore in the AFC U-19 Championship qualifiers. (Photo courtesy of FAS)
Thai Japanese Stadium, Bangkok, Thursday, October 10, 2013 — The Singapore U-18 football team failed in their bid to qualify for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-19 Football Championship after one win and two losses. They were placed in Group H for the qualifiers, together with North Korea, Thailand and Brunei.
The Cubs got off on a losing note, going down 0–3 to Thailand and 0–4 to North Korea. They then beat Brunei 3–1 in their final game. Brandon Koh (#7) scored a brace, while midfielder Jonathan Tan (#11) chipped in with a goal of his own off the bench.
Singapore finished third in Group H, which meant that they did not qualify for the Championship. North Korea qualified as group winners, while Thailand went through by virtue of being one of the six best-placed finishers among all the groups.
The group winners of the nine groups, alongside with six best-placed sides and hosts Myanmar will play in the Championship. Qatar, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Palestine, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand and China hosted the qualifiers involving 40 countries across the continent.
Of the other South-east Asian sides playing in the qualifiers, Vietnam and Indonesia topped their groups to qualify, while Myanmar received automatic qualification as hosts.
Vietnam put up an extremely dominant display in Group F, taking out Hong Kong and Australia by the same 5–1 margin, then defeating Chinese Taipei 6–1.
Indonesia’s trip to the top of Group G was not easy, after comfortable wins over Laos and Philippines, they needed a late goal by Evan Dimas to edge South Korea 3–2 in their final group game.
Singapore Roster
Goalkeepers
Mohamad Fashah Iskandar (#1)
Shahul Rayyan (#12)
Tham Yong Jun (#23)
Defenders
Azrin Bin Hamdan (#2)
Dhukilan S/O Jeevamani (#3)
R Aaravin (#4)
Jeffrey Adam Lightfoot (#5)
Illyas Lee (#6)
Muhammad Irfan Asyraf (#13)
Midfielders
Muhammad Amirul Adli Bin Azmi (#8)
Jonathan Tan (#11)
Taufiq Muqminin (#14)
Ammirul Emmran (#15)
Muhammad Muhelmy (#16)
Iqram Rifqi (#25)
Forwards
Brandon Koh (#7)
Muhammad Hazim Faiz (#9)
Muhammmad Muhaimin (#17)
Muhammad Zulfadhmi (#18)
Mahathir Bin Azeman (#20)
Bryan Nicholas Neubronner (#21)
Toh Kian Keong (#26)
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