Dob Earns Cap
Massoud Dob was as taken aback as anyone, when the news came that he had been called up to the Algerian national squad - and, not only that, would start in their next friendly, against Belarus.
"The possibility was always in the back of my mind, but never much more than that." he would tell local journalists, after the fact. "I'm always delighted to serve my country, it goes without saying."
There may well be more outings to come, from how he helped secure a 1-1 draw. Belarus were definitely the more active team out there, and Dob wasn't provided much help by Algeria's high line. Konstantin Shkarupa should have won it by rights with his magical dribbling after 77 minutes, but Dob rushed him fearlessly to preserve the tie.
Back home in Singapore, the national Lions would start against Suriname with a back four composed of three Farmer Bunnies stars, as
Tham Leng Teck,
Kwek Yun Jie and
Wong Ting Yew partnered Fotbalistii Electronici's Joel Lo. Not only that, Wong would get his maiden international goal, racing down the right to make it 2-0 with five minutes remaining.
"I can't deny it, the future's looking very exciting." head coach
Sikong Darong claimed. "It's also not like our other defenders are that far behind, if at all! Lau and Hu have been capped, and in my opinion, the rest deserve to be."
"If I had to nominate just one, it would be
Brendan Leung. He's been incredible this past year, and he has a very strong mentality of not letting his man - whoever it may be - get past him. This may be seen as old-fashioned these days, but as a coach, it's something I've never been unhappy to see."
