Football: In safe hands

Syazwan who? That was the question on most local football fans' lips when the Singapore Under-23 side lost 1-0 to their Malaysian counterparts in the Merdeka Tournament two Saturdays ago.

Courts Young Lions goalkeeper Syazwan Buhari, 20, played a blinder then to keep the score down, even though Singapore were reduced to 10 men from the 55th minute.

And he even kept out a penalty from Malaysia's star man Wan Zack Haikal. But prior to that game, he was not widely known to local football fans.

That's because in the last two years, Syazwan has mostly been living in the shadow of LionsXII and national team goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud, whose meteoric rise has seen him grab the Lions' No. 1 jersey at the age of just 23.

Izwan and Syazwan are the latest in a long line of talented shot-stoppers Singapore has produced in recent times.

While the Republic seems to be short on quality strikers at the moment, the conveyor belt of promising goalkeepers seems to be chugging along just fine.

Crucial role

LionsXII and national team goalkeeper coach Lee Bee Seng feels the introduction of the Young Lions in 2002 has played a crucial role in the development of goalkeepers in Singapore.

"You look at all the No. 1 goalkeepers at the S-League clubs now," said the former international.

"Almost all over them came through the Young Lions at some point. And there's more waiting to come through. "I think we have the most stable goalkeeping department in South-east Asia at the moment."

Former national No. 1 Rezal Hassan, who was in goal when Singapore lifted their first AFF Suzuki Cup (then known as the Tiger Cup) in 1998, also praised the setup of the Young Lions for giving S-League opportunities to young goalkeepers.

But he also noted that half of the eight local S-League clubs (excluding the Young Lions) had foreign goalkeepers on their books at the start of this season.

The 39-year-old, who is currently the goalkeeper coach of Hougang United, warned that a lack of local goalkeepers playing regularly at clubs could eventually bring down standards at national team level.

When he was the Lions No. 1, Rezal was kept on his toes by a host of custodians, such as Yazid Yasin, Shahril Jantan, Lionel Lewis, Adi Saleh and Noorisham Zainon.

All of them were playing regularly and aiming for his national team jersey.

This season, only Gombak United's Zaiful Nizam, Hougang's Fadhil Salim and veterans Yazid (Woodlands Wellington), 34, and Shahril (Home United), 33, are first-teamers at club level.

"That competition was very important," said Rezal.

"Anyway, since the start of the S-League (in 1996), I think there have been only two outstanding foreign goalkeepers, Dragan Talajic and Sandro Radun.

"So, hopefully, we can see more SLeague clubs giving local goalkeepers chances."

Lee, however, believes the future of Singapore football is still in safe hands.

He earmarked two National Football Academy goalkeepers, 18-year-old Fashah Iskandar and 16-year-old Zharfan Rohaizad, as stars in the making.

"Fashah (1.81m tall) and Zharfan (1.79m) have the build and the height... the raw materials," said Lee, who has trained national team goalkeepers since 1999.

"It's up to us to nurture them and train them up to be good goalkeepers.

"They can even be part of the SEA Games 2015 team if they develop right.

"But they must have the desire too, because young players can get distracted easily."


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