The Brothers Nguyen
It was a special day for the Nguyen family today, as brothers Daniel Nguyen, 17, and Leonard Nguyen, 15, were selected by the Farmer Bunnies' and Grilled Birds' youth sides respectively. The third-generation Vietnamese immigrants had been crazy about football almost as soon as they could walk, and had wound up guiding Lakeview Secondary to the regional "B" Division finals together.
Rancher Rabbits' head scout Yip De Da assessed the elder Daniel as a well-rounded forward, if just a bit undercoached. "It seems that he's been taught to keep to a few drills for his high school team, which while probably effective, has slowed his development a bit. The good news is that there's a lot of raw potential to work on here."
Meanwhile, the Chicken Wings' Lim Hock Puay felt that the younger Leonard, who had been fielded as a midfielder throughout his career so far, could well be more successful at the back. "He's got good playmaking instincts for his age, but it's also a good time to experiment with what he can do, before he becomes too set in his ways."
Their father Andy, while proud of his sons, was a little apprehensive of their future, though. "I heard that football's not a reliable job in Singapore, and that they were trying to get players to quit once they turn thirty. How can like that?"
