Singapore men’s U23 football provisional squad for SEA Games announced, including 4 overaged players

Twenty-seven players have been called up to the Singapore men’s under-23 national team’s  squad for the upcoming Southeast Asian (SEA) Games campaign in Vietnam.

The tournament will take place at the Thien Truong Stadium in Nam Dinh, Vietnam from May 7 to May 14. The Singapore under-23 team are in Group B along with Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos and 16-time winner Thailand.

Among the 27 players, 16 hail from the Young Lions at club level, with three from Lion City Sailors, two from Tampines Rovers and one each from Balestier Khalsa, Hougang United, Geylang International and Albirex Niigata (S).

Siblings Irfan and Ikshan Fandi, who play for Thailand’s BG Pathum, have also been called up to the squad. 

Irfan is among four overaged players called up. The others are goalkeeper Zaiful Nizam and midfielders Hami Syahin and Zulfahmi Arrifin. Teams at the SEA Games are allowed to call up three overaged players. 

Striker Ilhan Fandi and midfielder Farhan Zulkifli have been ruled out of the tournament after sustaining injuries while representing their clubs in the AIA Singapore Premier League.

The Singapore squad will commence centralised training from Apr 25 in preparation for the tournament. A final squad of 20 players will be named ahead of the team’s departure to Vietnam on May 4.

Most of the 27 players will participate in the training, with the exception of Lion City Sailor’s Hami Syahin, Nur Adam Abdullah, Saifullah Akbar and BG Pathum’s Irfan and Ikhsan Fandi who are involved with their respective club’s Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL) campaign in Thailand.

The full squad list is as follows: 

Goalkeepers: Ridwhan Fikri (Young Lions), Riki Kimura (Balestier Khalsa), Zaiful Nizam (Geylang International)

Defenders: Harith Kanadi (Young Lions), Irfan Fandi (BG Pathum), Irfan Najeeb (Tampines Rovers), Jacob Mahler (Young Lions), Jordan Emaviwe (Young Lions), Nur Adam Abdullah (Lion City Sailors), Ryaan Sanizal (Tampines Rovers), Ryhan Stewart (Young Lions), Syabil Hisham (Young Lions)

Midfielders: Arshad Shamim (Young Lions), Danish Qayyum (Young Lions), Hami Syahin (Lion City Sailors), Harhys Stewart (Young Lions), Jared Gallagher (Young Lions), Joel Chew (Young Lions), Rezza Rezky (Young Lions), Saifullah Akbar (Lion City Sailors), Shah Shahiran (Young Lions), Zulfahmi Arifin (Hougang United)

Forwards: Glenn Kweh (Young Lions), Ikhsan Fandi (BG Pathum), Khairin Nadim (Young Lions), Nicky Melvin Singh (Albirex Niigata), Zikos Chua (Young Lions)