Monday, March 22, 2010

Fandi Ahmad is a soccer coach and a former professional footballer in Singapore.He was the captain of the Singapore National Football Team In 1993-1997.He is considered by many to be Singapore's best-ever football player, and Asia's best striker.

In 1978, at the age 16, Fandi then became the youngest-ever player ever to play for the Singapore national team. In 1980 he was a member of the Singapore representative side which won the Malaysia Cup.Fandi's played for Kualar Lumpur in Malaysia from 1986 to 1990, helping them win the Malaysia Cup three times in 1987, 1988 and 1989. He also won the Malaysian Golden Boot Award in 1988. He then joined OFI Crete in Greece in 1990. But this stint in Europe lasted only a few months, and he returned to Malaysia to join Pahang in 1991, and helped them win the Malaysian League and Malaysia Cup double in 1992.

Fandi's first coaching job was at SAFFCC, who he guided to winning the S. League title in 2000.

Fandi was appointed a Council Member of the Football Association Of Singapore in 2001, becoming the youngest person and the first former international player to achieve this. He continued to coach professionally in Singapore and served as Assistant Coach of the Singapore team which won the regional Tiger Cup competition in 2005. He also coached the national under-23 team and the Young Lions in the S.League.

In 2006, Fandi joined the Indonesian club Pelita Jaya as their coach on a three-year contract, reportedly for US$220,000 a year.

Fandi won over 100 caps playing for the Singapore national team, scoring 50 goals. He helped Singapore win the Silver Medal at the Southeast Asian Games in 1983, 1985 and 1989

However, his contribution to Singapore football has not been recognised by FIFA, who have not included Fandi as one of Singapore's members in the Centurion Club.