SINGAPORE — They captured the hearts and imagination of Singaporeans with their gutsy displays at last year’s Asean Para Games (APG), which eventually led them to a bronze medal.

Since then, however, the Singapore national Cerebral Palsy (CP) football team has been unable to progress to the next level.

The team’s development this year has been hindered by issues such as a small squad size of 13, irregular availability of players for training and matches, and the lack of suitable opponents to play against.

That is why head coach Mohamed Zainudeen has issued an open invitation to anyone with cerebral palsy to try their hand at joining the squad.

Likewise, he is also looking for recreational or social football teams to arrange friendly matches to raise the level of his players.

Reflecting on a “quiet year” for the CP football team, Zainudeen told TODAY that his main challenge has been the lack of new recruits, coupled with the changing priorities of the current players.

“After the APG, the boys had to get back to their other commitments like studies and work, and many of them are moving on to the next stage of their lives,” said the 47-year-old.

“As such, their priorities have changed and they might no longer put football first, which means attendances at training and matches have been irregular. But I understand because, for them, focusing on football won’t help to put food on the table.

“In addition, our current squad size is too small and we’ve not been getting enough new people to join the squad and widen our base.”

Hence, Zainudeen’s open invitation to anyone who has Cerebral Palsy but is interested in football to get in touch with him.

“If you are playing some form of football, and are keen to see if you are good enough to join us, get in touch with me and we’ll arrange for you to join us for training,” he said.

Currently, the team meets up on Tuesdays and Saturdays for training or matches at the Queenstown Stadium.

Likewise, Zainudeen is also looking for recreational or social football teams to spar with his team.

While the CP team was involved in a Tri-Nation invitational tournament in July, which saw them go up against their Indonesian and Thai counterparts, Zainudeen wants to arrange more friendlies for his players to keep their match fitness up.

CP football captain Khairul Anwar said he understands why it has not been easy to find teams to play against.

He said: “For example, when we play against some ‘C’ Division Secondary School teams, they are too young and not physically strong enough yet to give us a challenge.

“But when we play against the ‘B’ Div boys, or against social football teams, their standards might be too high for us.

“I guess we are looking for teams of a suitable level to play against. Likewise, I suppose social football teams also want to play games of a certain level.”

However, some able-bodied players who have played against the CP football team are urging recreational teams to give the CP team a chance.

This is because they have been impressed with their quality, and claim they would have no problem going up against social teams.

Siva Ganesh, 46, who played in a friendly match against the team in January, said: “Their standard is quite high, and despite their disabilities, they have the basic skills such as ball control, passing and fitness.

“They held their own against us, and they gave as good as they got.”

Jun Tan, who runs football website Junpiter Futbol, agreed. “I have played against them a couple of times since 2013, and they never fail to make me sweat it out. They are really fit and they can run non-stop throughout the game,” he said.

“And with their never-say-die spirit, social teams out there cannot underestimate the CP team’s capabilities, for sure, and I think they can be good sparring opponents for social teams.”

The CP football team are on a break, and will resume training in January.

Zainudeen warned that it would be tough for his side to repeat their medal-winning heroics at next year’s APG in Kuala Lumpur.

“Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar are the powerhouses and it’ll be tough to beat them, while Malaysia will have the home-ground advantage,” he said. “So I won’t talk about medals now. My main aim is to get the boys back to their previous levels of commitment as we prepare for the APG.”

If you are interested in trying out for the CP team, or would like to play a friendly match against them. contact coach Zainudeen at zaicoach [at] yahoo.com.sg

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