SINGAPORE – In less than a week, the Young Lions, as the national Under-23 football team are known, will kick off their campaign in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Championship qualifiers in Yangon, Myanmar, where they will take on the host nation in their opening fixture.

Barely a month later, the U-22 players from this squad will then head to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for yet another challenging assignment – the South-East Asian (SEA) Games.

The goal for the two teams is straightforward – finish in the top-two of their respective groups in order to progress to the next stage.

Singapore are in Group F along with Australia, Brunei and Myanmar at the AFC qualifiers.

Coincidentally, both Brunei and Myanmar will meet Singapore again at the SEA Games, as all three countries have been drawn together with Laos and hosts Malaysia.

It all points to a testing month for the Young Lions, but Football Association of Singapore (FAS) vice-president Razali Saad has backed the team to prove their mettle and do the country proud at the two competitions.

“As a former player myself, I completely understand the sort of pressure the players are under ahead of the two tournaments,” the 52-year-old former national captain said at a press conference organised by the FAS on Friday to discuss the AFC U-23 tournament.

“It doesn’t help that Singapore has never won the football gold at the SEA Games before, and we’ve also been handed a tough group at the AFC qualifiers.

“But we know that the boys are trying their best and want to showcase what they can do. They know that if they do well at the SEA Games, it will bring in more support for the sport here, and they know what a heavy responsibility they have.

“The teams that have been called up for both competitions are young. Together, they form a squad that we’re looking to build for the future, but even though the players are so young, there is no doubt in my mind they will give their all for both competitions and fight hard for the country.”

National Under-23 head coach Richard Tardy also downplayed suggestions that playing two important competitions within such a short time span would be detrimental to his players.

Instead, the Frenchman believes this could prove advantageous for his charges during the SEA Games.

“I feel that my players sometimes face difficulties at the start of tournaments,” said Tardy.

“So perhaps after the AFC qualifiers, we will be much stronger at the SEA Games as both competitions are so near to each other.

“We will also be able to see what is good and bad from the tournament in Myanmar and be able to react immediately to find solutions fast.

“In addition, we will have the experience of playing Myanmar and Brunei, both of whom are also in our SEA Games group.

“The only downside to playing two competitions back-to-back is the possibility of injuries, but in football, we have to be ready for such things anytime.”

Following the AFC qualifiers – where Singapore will play three games in five days – Tardy and his charges will head to Perth, Australia for a nine-day training camp before the SEA Games.

Apart from having never won gold at the biennial Games, the Republic’s last medal was won in 2013 where they edged out Malaysia for the bronze.

For Singapore to win a historic gold medal at this year’s Games however, Tardy claims his team will have to first overcome their issues with consistency.

The Young Lions’ recent two friendly matches against their Indian counterparts this past week was the perfect example of this inconsistency. They dished out an insipid display in their first match last Sunday as they went down 0-1. But just three days later, they put in a much-improved performance to defeat the same team by the same scoreline.

“Sometimes we put in a big performance against a good team, but sometimes we have difficulty getting into the game,” explained Tardy.

“So one of our main problem is with consistency.

“But this team is very young, and you cannot always ask them to play at a high level…first, they must have more experience and to give them more exposure to top-level football.

“But we are confident now ahead of the two competitions especially after our win against India, and we are pushing them harder in training.

“We need to put positive pressure on the players, but I’m sure they will represent the country in the best way possible.”