SEA Games 2021: Singapore drawn with Thailand, Malaysia in men’s football group stages

The Singapore Under-23 men’s national team have been drawn with arch rivals Thailand and Malaysia in Group B for the upcoming SEA Games. 

Cambodia and Laos complete the five-team group. 

The SEA Games, which was postponed from last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, will be held in Hanoi from May 12 to 23 this year. 

Singapore have exited at the group stages in the last three tournaments. The last time they made it into the knockout stages of the SEA Games football competition in 2013, they won bronze. 

The Singapore team is expected to be led by Nazri Nasir, with the majority of players made up from the Young Lions team competing in the Singapore Premier League.

Meanwhile, the Singapore womens’ national team will take on Thailand, Myanmar and Laos in Group B of the women’s football competition. It will be the Lionesses first appearance at the biennial multi-sport event since 2003. 

As part of their preparations, the women’s team are competing in the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Women’s Tri-Nations Series. The Lionesses defeated Seychelles 6-2 in the first ticketed women’s friendly game and will next take on Papua New Guinea on Apr 11.