Avramovic's mix of experience and youth
Singapore coach drops host of Indonesia-based players and calls up 13 rookies
SINGAPORE - Five of the eight Indonesia-based players, including striker Noh Alam Shah and defender Baihakki Khaizan, have been left out of Rodojko Avramovic's provisional squad of 33 players for Singapore's Asian Zone 2014 World Cup qualifiers in July.
Only three players who ply their trade in Indonesia - midfield ace Mustafic Fahrudin, midfielder Sharil Ishak and striker Khairul Amri Kamal - are in the list, along with 13 players who have earned the nod for the first time.
National coach Avramovic is gearing up for a possible blockbuster clash against Malaysia - the Asean champions are favoured to overcome Taiwan in the second round - in the third round of the pre-World Cup qualifiers, and there was much anticipation over his latest squad after Football Association of Singapore (FAS) president Zainudin Nordin promised sweeping changes following the Lions' shock exit from the AFF Suzuki Cup in December.
Avramovic will eventually trim the squad down to between 23 and 25 players before the home-and-away qualifiers, scheduled on July 23 (at home) and July 28 (away), and the Serb feels the new-look national team could go on to be even stronger than the one he guided to back-to-back ASEAN titles (2004, 2007).
"This time, I think they will be more successful because we have been preparing the youngsters for quite some time and they played in the last two SEA Games (2007, 2009)," said the Serb.
The average age of the 13 new faces is 21, and while Avramovic found it easy to mix them up with experienced players in midfield and attack, defence, Singapore's Achilles heel in the last few matches, gave him much food for thought.
....
The 33-man squad:
Goalkeepers: Lionel Lewis (Home United), Hassan Sunny (Tampines Rovers), Izwan Mahbud (Courts Young Lions)
Defenders: Juma'at Jantan (Home United), Afiq Yunos, Shakir Hamzah, Irwan Shah, Safuwan Baharudin (Courts Young Lions), Ismail Yunos, Hamqaamal Shah (Gombak United), Daniel Bennett, Saiful Esah (SAFFC), Delwinder Singh (Tanjong Pagar United)
Midfielders: Shahdan Sulaiman, Shukor Zailan (Tampines Rovers), Ruzaini Zainal (SAFFC), Shi Jiayi, Isa Halim (Home United), Mustafic Fahrudin (Persela Lamongan), Hariss Harun, Faris Ramli, Zulfahmi Arifin, Nazrul Nazari, Raihan Rahman, Fazly Ayob (Courts Young Lions), Shahril Ishak (Medan Chiefs), Andrew Tan (Balestier Khalsa)
Forwards: Aleksandar Duric (Tampines Rovers), Fazrul Nawaz (SAFFC), Khairul Amri (Persiba Balikpapan), Qiu Li, Sufian Anuar (Home United), Khairul Nizam (Courts Young Lions)
Source:
http://www.todayonline.com/Sports/EDC110...-and-youth
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