Football
Kelvin Leong 9y

Singapore under-23 coach Aide and Al-Qaasimy ready for SEA Games battle

Singapore under-23 coach Aide Iskandar insists that his aim of the two-week training trip to Turkey was to get morale up for the 2015 Southeast (SEA) Games in June and create "fighting spirit."

Aide's squad left for Antalya, Turkey for a training trip where they played four friendly matches against Uzbekistan (1-1), Yemen U22 (3-0), Hamburg (5-0) and Spartak Moscow U23 (3-1). Despite losing three and drawing one game, the coach was pleased with the spirit showed by his charges' and saw a lot of positives from all his players.

"The atmosphere within the team is fantastic. My aim of the Turkey trip was to generate opportunities for the team to bond closer together and create the fighting spirit where everyone was on the same page, going for the same goal," Aide told ESPN FC.

"Not only did we achieve this goal but it was heartening to see players going all out in training every day without holding back. It is all shaping up really well and I hope they get even better in the coming months as we continue building up to the big one in June."

Echoing his coach's words, right-back and captain Al-Qaasimy Rahman insisted the trip was an integral part of the Young Lions' preparations for the upcoming SEA Games tournament.

"We will be taking on our fierce rivals from the region at the SEA Games, but if we can bring the same determination and fighting spirit we showed against the bigger boys of Spartak, Hamburg and Uzbekistan, why not the teams we are facing at the SEA Games?" Al-Qaasimy bravely declared to ESPN FC.

"I couldn't think of a better trip than this one. You had to be there to witness how we became a better team both on and off the pitch. The most crucial yet important factor was that the players managed to get away from their normal lifestyles and distractions back in Singapore. It was purely football. Training, recovery, nutrition and team meetings. It was as perfect as we could have asked for."

With almost 70 percent of his squad list already cemented, Aide is allowing players until the last minute to prove their worth and show how much they want to be part of his side.

"I have an idea of the squad for SEA Games but nobody is guaranteed a spot for now," the former Singapore captain said. "You may be on my list but I will not hesitate to drop anyone if they let their heads drop over the next few months. We have a duty to Singapore, even more so that the SEA Games is held on home ground. We will only bring the players who are willing to leave it all out there and fight till the very end. We play and fight as a team and I believe we can achieve that."

While the Young Lions are determined to make home advantage count, 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup champions Thailand are the hot favourites to retain their SEA Games men's football gold medal but facing his friend and former nemesis Kiatisuk is something that Aide readily accepts.

"Thailand are very strong but on our day, we can match them and with the home support of the fans, nothing is impossible," he said. "For now, we can only prepare well and focus on fine tuning our tactics and fitness to give ourselves every opportunity to make a good impression come June."

The bulk of the U23s will continue their preparations by playing in the 2015 S.League, but two key players Faris Ramli and Sahil Suhaimi will join up with the team later in the season as they are contracted to Malaysian Super League side LionsXII.

With a good two-week training under their belts, Qaasimy and his teammates will report back for training on Saturday morning with Aide and his coaching staff ready to continue their preparations for the mammoth task ahead.

"Of course there is pressure with the SEA Games coming up but the biggest take away from this trip is that we aren't that far off from the much celebrated teams in Europe," Qaasimy added. "Yes, the scorelines weren't favourable, but in my opinion our performances were commendable. We will prepare, we will fight and we will stand by each other all the way through until the SEA Games comes to our shores."

The Young Lions' next game will be a friendly against the Japan U23 squad on Feb. 14 at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

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