The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) formally announced this week that the Singapore Men’s National team will face Oceania’s top two sides Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, in a series of international ‘A’ friendly matches during the upcoming FIFA window in June.
In the Lions’ return to the National Stadium since March 2022, Coach Takayuki Nishigaya’s charges will go up against Papua New Guinea on 15 June in a rematch of the tie that Singapore won by two goals to one back in September 2014. The 134th-ranked Solomon Islands are the next visitors to the Lions’ den on 18 June as the Bonitos seek revenge against the Lions who defeated them in a thrilling 4-3 match-up in 2019.
Nishigaya is looking forward to having the squad together again for the second international window of the year as he reflected on the importance of the two upcoming matches: “Similar to the last March friendly matches, these two games are vital to further assess players at the international stage, as we continue our preparations for the National Team towards the World Cup Qualifiers in October. In our analysis before selecting these teams, we determined both opponents will provide the kind of challenges we would like to expose our players to a higher level of physical and aggressive competition. In addition, vital ranking points are also up for grabs and I am sure the boys will be determined to put out their best.
“We will not take both teams lightly because there are no easy games at the international level, and we saw that back during the March friendlies. We will be playing at the National Stadium for the first time since March 2022 and that in itself should be one of the motivating factors for the players to go all out. We want to be a team that the fans and country are proud of, and we have to show that in every match we play.”
-FAS Media Release
