Joeys in Singapore: Represents diversity of Australian culture

Thanks to Singapore based football writer Paul Goodwin who sent through this report from yesterdays 2008 Lion City Cup media conference. The Joeys are involved in the tournament which starts today.



Group A with Singapore B’s new Japanese coach Masanaga Kageyama and coaches from Australia (Martyn Crook), the United Arab Emirates and Chinese Taipei.

Paul's report below.


The theme of most of the coaches attending the 2008 Lion City Cup media conference on Sunday was the opportunity the tournament gave them to assess the pool of talent among their players born late enough to be eligible for the next FIFA Under -17 World Cup and the Asian Cup for Under 16s in Uzbekistan in October, which forms the last qualifying stage for the teams in next year’s FIFA event.

The draw for that tournament takes place on April 1.

In some cases teams entered in the Lion City Cup have brought with them players who will not be eligible for these two events and who will be looking to the next stage for their slightly older players, Asian Under-19 and Under-20 Finals and, beyond that, the next Olympics in 2012.

Singapore, for instance will have two teams competing in the Lion City Cup, an A team and a B Team, which is the younger of the two sides, and is being coached by Singapore’s latest recruit to the coaching ranks, the Japanese-born Masanaga Kageyama who will be assisted by Abdul

Singapore’s A team, coached by Salim Moin, will have its sights set on winning the Singapore-hosted Lion City Cup which begins on Monday and has been divided into two groups.

Singapore B has to contend with Australia, the United Arab Emirates and Chinese Taipei in Group A, while Singapore A is in Group B and faces opposition from Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Thailand.

The two Group A games on Monday are at Choa Chu Kang Stadium, while the Group B fixtures are being staged at the Singapore Sports School.

In Group A Australia follows up its earlier tours of Japan and Singapore last year by competing against Singapore B, the UAE and Chinese Taipei.

Australia’s coach, Martyn Crook, explained that his team was learning how tough it was to play in Asia now after so many years competing in Oceania.

“Unfortunately one of our best players, the A League-contracted Ben Kantarovski, has been ruled out through injury, but the Lion City Cup is, to us, preparation along the way to the FIFA Under-17s next year and before that the AFC Under-16s qualifiers in Uzbekistan.

Crook also said that the Australian squad reflected the diversity of Australian culture these days and included three African refugees among its many players of multicultural background.

“Our young players have another chance with this tournament to adapt to the different climates that we will encounter in Asia.

“The refugee programme is very active in bringing forward the natural abilities of these athletes and they, like everyone else in the squad, will gain a lot from being in Singapore for this event.”

The UAE has a large and diverse official party accompanying the mainly Emirates-born coaching staff, with a German, two Moroccans and a Syrian with them in Singapore.

They are expected to do well in this group.

Chinese Taipei has a Brazilian coach, Villabor Levi, but he and his boys have been together for only three weeks.

Said the coach, who has three other Brazilians assisting him,

“Soccer is not big in Taiwan, it’s not famous at all, but we are looking forward to playing here.”

Singapore B has a more serious mission.

The youthful Masanaga Kageyama took over the team only recently and he thanked the FAS for giving him the opportunity to coach them.

“It is a chance for me to assess the players, in this Lion City Cup,” he said.

“I expect them to show their fighting spirit with this chance to play other national teams at this level.

A good performance from the Singapore B team will auger well for the Asian Finals in October, in which Australia, Uzbekistan and most of these other national sides will be in competition

Uzbekistan looks the testing material in Group B, even though, as hosts, they have had more of a saloon passage to the Asian Under 16 Finals in Tashkent in October.

“Mainly we are coming here to prepare for the Asian championships in Tashkent in October,” said their coach, Russian-born Robert Gay.

“We would like to check our abilities against these other teams and increase our level of experience at international tournaments.

Later, joking with the media, he said both he and his assistant had birthdays to celebrate during the tournament and that also made it special for them.

Just don’t expect any of the other teams to hand you any birthday presents mate!

Vietnam coach Nguyen Quang Hai candidly admitted that he and his touring party was keen to gain more information on other players in other teams.

He also revealed that one of the best players in the age group, Truong Van Thanh, was injured and had been ruled out of the event.

“We are coming here to do our best to achieve something and to unearth some new talent,” he said.

The Thailand team had only been together for two weeks according to their head of delegation, Chaichok Poom Puang, speaking on behalf of head coach Thanis Areesngarkul

Singapore A coach, Salim Moin, explained that most of his players had been together for around four years and was drawn either from the Singapore Sports school or the Centres of Excellence schemes.

“Unfortunately, since the last tournament finished in August, the players had not trained for about five months when they came together in camp in January.

“We are taking the Lion City Cup very seriously and there is a lot of pressure on us to perform,” he went on.

“We respect all teams and win or lose we are here to learn and we are looking towards the 2009 AFC Championships after this as players are not eligible for the FIFA tournament next year.