Noor keeps the faith
Geylang International Football Club (GIFC) Head Coach Noor Ali believes his squad has what it takes to mount a serious challenge for the top-three finish in the 2023 AIA Singapore Premier League with his eyes set firmly on qualifying for the AFC Cup next year.
The Eagles narrowly missed out on a place in the continental competition after coming in fourth to Albirex Niigata, Lion City Sailors and Tampines Rovers in the league last year.
But Noor wants his charges to head into the new season, which gets underway this week, with the same ambition despite the departure of several key players that included Croatian hotshot Sime Zuzul, winger Hazzuwan Halim, centre-back Faizal Roslan and goalkeeper Zaiful Nizam.
GIFC had since reinforced the squad with quality signings such as striker Yushi Yamaya from J-League side Yokohama Marinos, centre-back Amirul Adli (Lion City Sailors), central midfielder Gareth Low (Balestier Khalsa), centre-back Nazhiim Harman (Hougang United) and stopper Ridhwan Fikri (Young Lions).
GIFC also welcomed back winger Iqbal Hussain, who played for the Club for a season in 2020 before leaving to join Indian League outfit Chennai City, as well as midfielder Noor Ariff who had just completed his national service.
The sense of optimism is certainly there for Noor as he managed to retain the services of his three influential foreign stars – Frenchman Vincent Bezecourt and midfielder Takahiro Tezuka and centre-back Rio Sakuma of Japan.
The other seniors set for the prominent role this season are Singapore international Joshua Pereira, full-backs Ahmad Syahir and Fadli Kamis and midfielder Huzaifah Aziz.
Noor declared that it is all systems go at Our Tampines Hub as they look ahead to their season-opening Eastern Derby clash with Tampines Rovers on Sautrday.
“Another challenging yet exciting year is definitely upon us as most of the clubs are entering the new season with their squad strengthened. As for us, we had to rebuild our team from scratch after retaining only about five to six of our key players,” said Noor.
“But we can still take some positives from the fact that we managed to get three of our foreigners to stay back, and we also brought in a good striker in Yushi.
“We also have Joshua, Fadli and Huzaifah all remain with us, so it’s quite good. Together with the new signings we made, I know we have the squad to compete and achieve what’s been set for them
“Like the previous seasons, our ultimate target has always been trying to qualify for the AFC Cup. This year is no exception, we’re going to go make a big push for it.”
Noor had also stressed the importance of getting off to a consistent start in the first half of the season if the Club wants to achieve any of their targets
Last year, The Eagles displayed true grit as they fought their way to a creditable fourth place after being placed second last in the league standings at one point.
GIFC got off to a dream start with a 1-0 win over then defending champions LCS, but they certainly wouldn’t imagine a frustrating 11-match winless run would follow after that.
“We have learnt our lesson. We must try to get off to a strong and consistent start. If we are to succeed in attaining our goals this season, we can’t afford to let what happened last year repeat,” said Noor.
Ends.