Singapore’s Under-16 Girls team will battle against two of the best women’s squads in the region at the upcoming 2025 ASEAN Under-16 Women’s Championship on Aug 23 to 25. The team has been drawn to be part of Group C, which will be up against Thailand and Australia.
Singapore’s head coach, Matias Martinez, has high hopes that the team will perform well, even though their opponents have the advantage, having won the tournament before. The 42-year-old coach was part of the coaching staff when Singapore placed second at the inaugural girls’ Lion City Cup earlier this year.
The team has undergone a two-week intensive training camp session, which added to the coach’s confidence in Team Singapore’s chances.
Martinez admitted: “Their willingness to learn and improve has shown that they can compete, build momentum, and take on the challenges of a higher-calibre tournament.” He added that their training sessions have been positive so far, and that the team has been exerting strong and consistent work in their playing performance.
“This is a great opportunity for younger players to gain experience competing in a high-performance tournament,” said Martinez.
Having experienced coaching the national youth girls’ team in New South Wales, Martinez admitted that the team should be mentally prepared and embrace resiliency before they compete against their opponents. As part of their preparation, he explained that they have been putting the athletes through difficult scenarios for them to be fully prepared to find solutions in challenging moments of the match.
With this approach, Celine Koh, the team captain, remarked: “Coach Matias always emphasises being aggressive and not being afraid to challenge opponents, even when they are physical. Initially, the team was hesitant about committing fouls, but under him, we are gaining confidence to do so.”
The team captain also wanted to put the lessons that they garnered from their defeat to South Korea at the Lion City Cup to fruition, and stated, “I know the games against Australia and Thailand will be tough because they are more technical than we are. But looking back at what we learnt from South Korea, we understand what it takes to play against teams with that calibre.”
Moreover, her goal now is to play what they’ve trained for and push no matter what.
The U16 Girls ASEAN Championship will take place at Sriwedari Stadium in Surakarta, Indonesia. This is a stepping stone for the young players to show Singaporeans their growth in regional competitions.
“Our aim is to demonstrate that we can apply everything we’ve been working on in training to the challenges of a regional tournament,” Martinez declared.
Support poured on social media, with fans encouraging the girls to stay motivated, aim for more goals, and enjoy the experience.
