Football sisters Nurhidayu and Natasha reunite for Singapore-Hong Kong friendly
SINGAPORE - The last time sisters Nurhidayu and Natasha Naszri were on a football pitch together was Dec 5, 2024, when the Lionesses played the third-place play-off at the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Women's Cup.
Then, the team posted a 1-0 victory over Timor-Leste to claim the final qualifying berth for the 2025 Asean Women's Championship – a first for the Singapore women's football team.
Though the team later withdrew from the competition, the qualification remains a cherished memory for the sisters.
'We really sacrificed a lot and put in a lot of effort to play for that competition. So having to really win it, and achieve something, was a really happy moment for us,' said Nurhidayu, 21.
The duo are looking forward to more happy moments on the field together on June 15, when the Lionesses play 80th-ranked Hong Kong in an international friendly at Choa Chu Kang Stadium. This is the world No. 139 Singaporeans' first international home fixture of 2025.
Both players are among the 23-member squad picked by national women's team head coach Karim Bencherifa for the game.
Left-back Nurhidayu and central midfielder Natasha, 17, have not spent much time together as the latter has been training in Spain's LaLiga academy as part of the Unleash the Roar! (UTR) overseas scholarship programme, while Nurhidayu trains here with the Lion City Sailors women's team and Temasek Polytechnic.
Nurhidayu said: 'We have known each other our whole life, so we understand each other. If I have a problem, I go to her; if she has a problem, she goes to me. This stuff helps us to develop as a player as well.'
Natasha has followed keenly in her older sister's footsteps, joining her first in their Telok Kurau Primary School football team, and then to the national youth team. During the 2024 Women's Premier League (WPL) season, they both played for the Sailors, who topped the league.
When Natasha was called up to the national senior team in 2023, Nurhidayu was out due to a knee injury. Nonetheless, she still had advice for her younger sibling, telling her to 'just play, don't have to be nervous'.
Family support is important for the pair as their parents, two siblings and other relatives will show up in the stadium to cheer them on during their games.
Though they may be four years apart, the sisters share a close bond, as seen in their banter and teasing during the interview with The Straits Times.
They bicker about their favourite football teams – Natasha supports Liverpool and Real Madrid like their father, Nurhidayu is a Tottenham Hotspur fan – and who is better at mathematics.
Though they may be four years apart, the sisters share a close bond, as seen in their banter and teasing during the interview with The Straits Times.
ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
But playing football is serious business for them.
Nurhidayu, who received her maiden call-up in 2021 and has 18 appearances to Natasha's seven, said: 'To come back and contribute for the country, it's always an honour. We take every call up as an opportunity for us to actually give what we can.'
The Hong Kong game is the second fixture in the week for the Lionesses, who played the same opponents in a closed-door match on June 12. While Bencherifa did not reveal the score, he noted it was a close contest and that he was pleased with the competitiveness and performance of his team.
Singapore were beaten 1-0 in their last game against Hong Kong in 2022 – Nurhidayu was also part of the team then.
The two matches will also serve as preparation for the Lionesses for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers. Held in Jordan from June 23 to July 5, Singapore has been drawn into Group A alongside 68th-ranked Iran, Jordan (75), Lebanon (130), and Bhutan (171).
The squad for the Hong Kong friendly and AFC tournament has an average age of 21 and comprise a mix of experienced and young players. They include senior players Lim Li Xian, captain Rosnani Azman and forward Farhanah Ruhaizat, returning overseas players Danielle Tan and Venetia Lim, and five from the UTR programme.
Among the newcomers are Still Aerion's Nurul Unaisah, Albirex Niigata's Nurzaherra Maisarah and Balestier Khalsa's Sharifah Nur Amanina, who won a women's singles gold in teqball at the 2023 SEA Games.
However, the Lionesses will be without key midfielder Putri Syaliza, who is studying at Oakland University in the US and is unavailable due to personal commitments.
Bencherifa earlier noted that the match against Hong Kong 'will be a good test for us to assess where we are and what we need to improve on'.
He added: 'We try always to have a good performance, and the result is also important.'
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Recent policy changes relaxing the nationality law and allowing dual citizenship are aimed at drawing the Vietnamese diaspora – along with other skilled foreign talents – to the country, as part of sweeping economic reforms eyeing higher-value industries. Facing the brain drain challenge Like many developing countries, Vietnam faces a brain drain challenge, where skilled individuals choose to leave the country or not return home, resulting in a loss of talent and expertise. This trend is concerning for Vietnam's economic development, especially as it transitions towards a more technology-driven economy. Vietnamese authorities and observers warn that the brain drain has reached a concerning level. The Vietnam Migration Profile 2023 noted that between 2017-2023 over 250,000 Vietnamese were studying overseas. Up to 80 per cent of those chose not to return to Vietnam, opting instead to stay and work in the host countries. 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Some other returnees, however, argued that there are still not enough incentives for Viet Kieu talents, some of whom were not even born in Vietnam, to live and work in the country. 'You know, young people these days care a lot about their living standards – earning a proper salary, having good healthcare and education for their children,' said Vietnamese-American chef and restaurateur Nikki Tran, who returned to open a restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City in 2014. 'They don't come back to Vietnam to pursue an ideology, like in the past.' The chef, who declined to give their age, left Vietnam as a teenager 30 years ago for the US and returned to 'challenge Vietnam's traditional cuisine principles and present Vietnam's street food, but not as you know it'. Chef Nikki Tran has appeared on several Netflix food shows including 'Street Food Asia,' 'Ugly Delicious,' and 'Somebody Feed Phil.' 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There are no statistics yet on new applications since the amended nationality law came into effect, but a few foreigners living in Vietnam who spoke to ST said they were keen to apply for Vietnamese citizenship should the opportunity arise. With Vietnamese passports, foreign nationals will no longer need a work visa and will gain full access to property ownership and banking services currently only available for Vietnamese citizens. Some critics say the relaxed regulations, if not closely controlled, could open the floodgates to lower-quality migrants. A local official based in Hanoi, who declined to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media, said there have been cases of foreigners marrying Vietnamese women in order to obtain citizenship. 'It's not a big problem yet but it could become a serious issue in the future if there are more and more foreigners coming to live in Vietnam,' he told ST. Yet there are many cases of foreigners who genuinely fall in love with Vietnam and its people, and want to stay in the country for the long term. In 2023, there were about 19,000 marriages registered between locals and foreigners, up nearly 36 per cent from about 14,000 in 2022. Mr Hasan Dogan, a 36-year-old marketing executive from Turkey, is actively learning the Vietnamese language. He would very much like to settle down in Vietnam, where he has been living and working for the past five years, but does not believe he has the significant skill set to qualify for citizenship. For now, he sees only one option in order to remain here: marriage. 'Maybe I'll meet a nice Vietnamese woman and start a family with her – who knows,' he said with a grin.
