MANILA — Nearly 14 years after his first appearance in a Singapore jersey, centre-back Daniel Bennett is set to make history by becoming the country’s most-capped player outright when he lines up against Thailand in the Lions’ second Suzuki Cup group stage match today.

The 38-year-old has 130 national team appearances to his name, and currently shares the highest number of appearances with the captain, Shahril Ishak.

And it seems fitting that Bennett will probably earn his landmark 131st cap against the Thais — old foes he has locked horns with many times throughout his illustrious national team career.

But Bennett insists he is not thinking about the prospect of becoming Singapore’s most-capped player, as he told TODAY: “I think, at this stage, this (achievement) is not important. We’re playing a key game against Thailand, so individual records don’t matter. What matters now is that the team performs well.”

Those sentiments reflect the professionalism and reliability that have been a hallmark of Bennett’s career so far. It is also little wonder that after being recalled to the national fold earlier in July — following a three-year absence — Bennett has quickly re-established himself as one of the key members of the Lions, and is now the bedrock upon which head coach V Sundramoorthy has built his team’s sturdy defence.

Hailing Bennett as an example for young players to follow, Sundram said: “He is a role model who the younger players should look up to. Even at his age of 38, he has shown he can consistently perform at a high level. He keeps himself very fit, so you can see him putting himself about and playing 90 minutes without tiring, which says a lot about his professionalism.”

Looking intense during yesterday’s national team training session at the Philippine Sports Stadium, Bennett was clearly focused on the Thais. After all, given that the War Elephants looked irrepressible going forward during their 4-2 win over Indonesia last Saturday, Bennett knows he will need to be at his best in order to keep the champions at bay.

While admitting it will be no easy feat trying to contain the tournament favourites, Bennett believes the Lions’ best approach is to go on the attack. “The Thais are a very dangerous team,” said Bennett. “They’re all very professional, well-drilled and have very good teamwork.

“But to have a chance to qualify (for the semi-finals), we need to go and score. Sometimes, attack is the best form of defence, so we’ll go out there, be positive, and there is every chance that we can get a good result against them.”

However, Singapore goalkeeper Hassan Sunny, who has played in the Thai Premier League for the past two seasons with Army United, warned his team-mates to expect to have their hands full, especially with Thai striker Teerasil Dangda in red-hot form. Teerasil, 28, is currently the country’s third-highest goalscorer ever with 37 goals. He made five goals in his past two international games, including a hat-trick against Indonesia last Saturday.

Even though Teerasil has never scored against Singapore, Hassan believes the Muangthong United player will run rampant if not kept closely in check.

“Teerasil has been representing Thailand for so many years, and he’s a killer fox in the box,” said Hassan. “He’s very experienced, and we need to keep an extra eye on him the moment he enters the penalty area.

“But the other Thai players will also be huge threats. The likes of Chanathip (Songkrasin) and Sarach (Yooyen) can shoot well from a distance, so we’ll need to be wary.”

While Thailand may be heading into the match as favourites, head coach Kiatisuk Senamuang insists his team will not have it easy against a defensively-sound Singapore side.

“We know that Singapore will be a tough opponent,” said the former striker, who played in the S.League for SAFFC in 2001. “They’ll be fighting very hard for the win, and they’re very hard to break down.

“I will rotate some players due to fatigue, but this won’t stop us from aiming to play an entertaining game and securing the win.”

TV LISTING

Thailand v Singapore

Singtel TV Ch114 & StarHub TV Ch208, 4pm

Indonesia v Philippines

Singtel TV Ch114 & StarHub TV Ch208, 7.30pm