3 days ago
- Sport
- Independent Singapore
'We will try our best to compete'—Singapore U20 Women's National Team is ready for the 2026 Asian Cup Qualifiers
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SINGAPORE: The Singapore U20 Women's National Team is now ready for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U20 Women's Asian Cup Thailand 2026 Qualifiers. The national team is grouped with the host country, Vietnam, alongside Hong Kong, China, and the Kyrgyz Republic in Group B.
The qualifiers will happen from Aug 6 to 10, 2025. Head Coach Fazrul Nawaz expressed that the team had a productive preparation leading up to the tournament. He remarked: 'Our team has been preparing well, we had a good training camp the past week, and our team bonding showed a lot of positive results for the players and the staff as well. We are looking forward to the tournament and our first match against the host nation, Vietnam.'
The team's first match would be against Vietnam on Aug 6 at 8 p.m. SGT, followed by a match against Hong Kong, China, on Aug 8 at 5 p.m. SGT. They will conclude the group stage against the Kyrgyz Republic on Aug 10 at 5 p.m. SGT.
Vietnam was in the finals of the previous U20 Women's Asian Cup, and the team is expecting a tough match against the squad once again. Vietnam's player representative, Lưu Hoàng Vân (Hoang Van Luu) expressed that they are set for the upcoming match: 'From our experience playing with the senior team — in terms of play style, stamina, and tactics — we've been able to improve ourselves, share that knowledge with our teammates, and work together to achieve our goals.'
Nawaz remarked that the team has the willingness to compete for each other, and they developed qualities that will truly serve them even after the tournament.
Moreover, team captain Sarah Zu'risqha is ready to lead the team towards growth. She stated: 'It's a great opportunity and I feel honoured to represent Singapore. It's competitive to play for the national team, so I'm grateful to be here and to lead the team. It's a big responsibility, but I'll do my best.'
She added, 'Our target is to give 110% in every game. We want to keep going no matter what happens and not give up. We know the opponents are strong, but we will fight and not back down.'
On social media, the Head Coach declared: 'For us, I think we want to compete in every game. We respect every team. It's a tough group; every team is strong, but we will try our best to compete and to see how far we can go in this group.'
The games will be streamed live on the Vietnam Football Federation's YouTube page. () => { const trigger = if ('IntersectionObserver' in window && trigger) { const observer = new IntersectionObserver((entries, observer) => { => { if ( { lazyLoader(); // You should define lazyLoader() elsewhere or inline here // Run once } }); }, { rootMargin: '800px', threshold: 0.1 }); } else { // Fallback setTimeout(lazyLoader, 3000); } });
