YOG football coach and former Singapore national defender Kadir Yahaya is cautious about his side’s chances at the YOG and hopes to see more Singaporean footballers ply their trade abroad.
As the inaugural Youth Asian Games draws nearer, The Play Times caught up with Singapore’s Youth Olympic Games football coachformer Singapore International defender Kadir Yahaya and talked about his side’s preparations for the games and how his team intends to Blaze the Trail during the YOG.
Q. The YOG is coming up in less than 140 days time. How is the team shaping up?
We are currently training at the Singapore Sports School, in the evenings. The team is made up of a combination of players from both the school itself and from elsewhere. We went for a tour in Melbourne recently and played three games, losing two and drawing one. Overall, I am quite satisfied with their performances so far. They have shown great commitment, and the ability to balance schoolwork and training. During the Melbourne trip they showed some potential too, putting up a good show against the bigger boys.
Q. Only Bolivia, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Montenegro and Vanuatu will be participating in the football tournament at the YOG, according to reports. The big guns will not be playing. So how do you fancy Singapore’s chances?
We should not look at the Under-15 competition and talk about the ‘big guns’ like Korea or Brazil whatsoever. What we should be concerned about is the competitive advantage that our opponents have. If you look at Bolivia, they are a World Cup nation, as is Montenegro. So we cannot downplay their strengths. We have to bear in mind that every team that comes here will want to win.
Q. Have you settled into your job since being appointed in February 2010?
I’m still settling down. I have a squad size of about 23 players. I still need to train and I still need to look for some players during the coming ‘B’ Division Nationals.
Q. You were assisting Fandi Ahmad in Indonesia when, unfortunately, David (Sivalingam) passed away and you got your appointment. Tell us, how did the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) contact you?
David was a close friend of mine. I attended his funeral and I spoke to FAS, asking them if there was any way I could contribute after Siva’s death. They gave it some thought, had a meeting, and the president himself, Mr Zainudin Nordin, the general secretary Mr Winston Lee, and Mr Jita Singh sat down and asked me if I could continue the great work done by Sivalingam. Given my close relationship with Siva, I decided to take up the challenge for him.
Q. Would it be the same as finishing what he started?
Yes. If you look back about three years ago when I left FAS, he took over my team and made that team Under-18 champions. Now I think, I must return the favour. We have a very dedicated bunch of youngsters who want to show everyone what they have got. I have told the boys to remember this code-word “D2D”, or “Dedicated to David”. So the boys have accepted that code and they want to show something to the world at the YOG.
Q. Who are the players that we can look out for at the YOG?
Obviously, during the AYG, we saw the captain, Jeffrey Lightfoot. Hanafi Akbar was also someone to look out for and the left-back Dhukhilan Jeevamani was also quite impressive. If they stay true to form and remain consistent, I think they can go far in football.
Q. You’ve played in the S-League and served as an assistant coach in the Indonesian League. How different are the playing standards?
If we are talking about standards in terms of the mental toughness of individual players, I would rate Indonesian players higher than Singapore’s. I mean just look at the facilities and the technical assistance they get. There’s no sports science available in Indonesia, whereas in Singapore we get a lot of support in this area. They are, however, very strong mentally and physically. When they get injured, they still train because they want to train. It’s very hard to tell them to rest. Perhaps it is because it is a big challenge for them; they don’t want to lose out on their contract. The S-League is, however, more organised as compared to the Indonesian League.
Q. It must be an honour for Singaporean players to be picked up by Indonesian clubs.
Yes. I think it is a good sign but it is only one step for Singaporean players to venture out and play in somewhere else other than the S-League. But then again in my opinion, besides Indonesia, they should look to play in Japan, maybe not the J-League, but in J2, the second-tier league. The K2 (Korean second-tier league) is also good. I believe that is the way to improve. They can get better quality games there, better training, better organisation. That is where they should aim for. But we have to take it a step at a time. To go to Indonesia is one step, and the next step is to go to J2, K2, and then probably the J-League and K-League.
Q. What was your most memorable football moment?
For me, it was winning the 1994 Malaysia Cup and in helping Singapore to the1998 Tiger Cup, the one when R. Sasikumar's “shoulder-blade goal” won the Cup for Singapore. For me, winning the Player of the Year Award in 1994 was the most memorable one for me. I was up against the likes of Fandi, Abbas Saad all the senior players. I was just a junior then, and it was like a turning point for me. From then on the only way was to work hard.
Q. Your favourite club as a player?
I’ve been with Geylang United all the way in my playing days, even in my youth, and I think that’s the club that’s been in my heart ever since.
Q. And your favourite player?
I’ve always looked up to Malek Awab because he’s like a mentor to me, giving me good advice, giving youngsters motivation to work hard, to be more disciplined, and not to go into doing things that can destroy your career.
Q. Who was the best striker that you have faced? Who was the toughest opponent that you have faced in your entire career?
Zainal Abidin (from Pahang, Selangor) was the toughest. I think it was because of his physique and his experience.
Q. Any interesting on-the-pitch stories for us about Zainal?
He is like wandering around the field all the time. But at that certain moment he will just explode, beat you off the mark, and then score a goal. He won’t be running all around, but with his experience he knows when to run, when not to run, when to score, when to get into good positions.
Q. After living all your life in Singapore, and going to Indonesia to be an assistant coach for a club there, what have you learned?
It’s good to be in Indonesia to get some experience of their culture, their people, their way of life, their football philosophy. But one thing about being in professional football there is that you have to travel a lot for matches. You have to be physically and mentally fit, even as a coach. What I saw that I think all players in Singapore should learn is that the Indonesian players are hungry. Everybody is hungry to play there; they don’t like to be left out. They want to play the game even though they are injured. They will not tell the coach that they are injured, no matter how, they will still train. This form of mental toughness is what I want to inculcate in the boys. In Singapore, we have a lot of luxuries like handphones, PSPs, Xbox, and other things that distract the players. Down there, it is a struggle in itself to train.