Retired Lion players express concern over future of national football team's goalkeeping position

Former national footballers Lionel Lewis and Yakob Hashim are deeply concerned about the current state of goalkeeping in Singapore. They believe that urgent measures need to be taken to discover and nurture new talents for this crucial position. Lewis and Hashim describe the situation as "worrying" and are calling for action to secure the future of goalkeeping in the country.

The recent retirement of veteran No. 1 Hassan Sunny has left a significant void, while potential successors like Izwan Mahbud, 34, and Syazwan Buhari, who turns 32 at the end of the month, are nearing the latter stages of their careers. The other two goalkeepers in the latest squad for the September international window are uncapped: Geylang International’s Rudy Khairullah, 30 and his club deputy Hairul Syirhan, 29.

Other recent call-ups to the squad include Zaiful Nizam, 37, and 27-year-old Zharfan Rohaizad, who is now the Lion City Sailors’ No.2 behind Izwan.

Younger goalkeepers who have had game time at club level are Balestier Khalsa’s Hafiz Ahmad, 25, who has started in all 13 matches this season, Young Lions’ Aizil Yazid, 19, who has over 30 appearances in the Singapore Premier League (SPL), his deputy Travis Ang, 19, with five matches and Tanjong Pagar’s 23-year-old Prathip Ekamparam, who has nine appearances in the league.

The current situation is in stark contrast to the outstanding goalkeepers who have worn national colours over the years, starting with Eric Paine and Edmund Wee in the 1970s to David Lee, Rezal Hassan, Lionel Lewis, Hassan and Izwan.

Lewis, 41, won Asean titles in 2004 and 2007 and was an Asian Footballer of the Year nominee in 2006 before he hung up his gloves in 2012. He said: “I voiced concerns about this long ago. It is a worrying situation even before Hassan hung up his gloves and now he has moved on.

“Even at the moment, Izwan needs his form back, Zharfan is not playing, Syazwan needs more international exposure and there are no notable young goalkeepers coming through. It is very worrying that we have not produced good, young goalkeepers.”

Yakob, an ex-international and former Lions goalkeeping coach, echoed Lewis’ sentiments.

The 63-year-old said: “How can we not be worried? The goalkeeper is a very crucial position and the one that brings calm to the rest of the team. In the next five to 10 years, we are in trouble.”

In 2015, then Football Association of Singapore (FAS) technical director Michel Sablon warned there was a dearth of good goalkeepers coming through the youth ranks and the following year, the national football body launched the Goalkeeper Academy of Singapore with the aim of enhancing goalkeeping standards for those aged between 10 and 16.

Weekly sessions continue to be held every Sunday although the issue of goalkeepers for the national team remains.

Yakob questioned why more has not been done to train and expose younger goalkeepers.

Pointing to the latest squad, Yakob said: “Where are the young goalkeepers? Where is someone like Zharfan? Where are the keepers from the Young Lions? Of course, they might not play now but they should be exposed to this level and train with the best players in the country. We are looking at the short-term and not planning ahead.”

He added that more measures need to be put in place, such as extra weekly training sessions or friendly matches, especially with many younger goalkeepers not seeing game time with their clubs.

Kenji Syed Rusydi, 26, has made three appearances in Hougang’s 14 SPL matches, Tanjong Pagar’s Riki Kimura (23) has had two starts while the likes of Albirex’s Dylan Pereira (21), BG Tampines’ Sunny Tia (20), Balestier’s Wayne Chew (22), Martyn Mun (24), Mukundan Maran (26), and Sailors Adib Nur Hakim (26) have yet to register any playing time this season.

He said: “What is the national goalkeeping coach doing during the time away from the international windows? He should call for a weekly centralised training involving the up-and-coming goalkeepers from the Young Lions and other SPL clubs. Call up all the keepers with potential, get mentors in and push them once a week. How else are these players going to improve, because not many of them are getting game time at club level.”

Lewis added that FAS’ goalkeeping department needed to double up and “put a lot more effort in the technical side” and suggested a comprehensive programme for strength and conditioning, as well as additional training sessions.