Singapore U-20 coach Azmir impressed with his team’s India outing

The two closed-door friendly matches against India earlier this month offered Singapore’s under-20 men’s football team a valuable test of where it stands against strong opposition.

Played at the Centre for Sports Excellence here, the games were part of preparations for the AFC U20 Asian Cup China 2027 qualifiers. India won the encounters 3-0 and 1-0.

For Singapore head coach Syed Azmir, however, the results were secondary to the lessons his players could take from the outings.

“We wanted to test the players against strong opposition, see how well they could execute our principles under pressure and assess different combinations within the team. It was also important to give the players international match exposure and develop their understanding of the intensity, discipline and decision-making required at this level,” Azmir said.