Lion City Sailors: Singaporean team making waves in Asia

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Lion City Sailors: Singaporean team making waves in Asia  Lion City Sailors from the Singapore Premier League were surprise runners-up in this season’s AFC Champions League Two competition.  In partnership with Media City  READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/07/24/lion-city-sailors-singaporean-team-making-waves-in-asia  Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages

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00:00The inaugural AFC Champions League 2 competition will be remembered for the remarkable rise of the Lion City Sailors from Singapore,

00:09who made history as the first ever club from that nation to make the final of an Asian club competition.

00:16Let's take a look now at how the club from one of the world's smallest leagues made waves in Asia this season.

00:22Hello and welcome to Football Now.

00:30The feel-good story of Singapore's Lion City Sailors has certainly been one of the standout moments of 2025 so far,

00:39with the team from the tiny island nation making it all the way to the final of the AFC Champions League 2 competition.

00:47While the fairytale run may have ended in defeat to the UAE team Sharjah FC,

00:52it's a game that all those in attendance at Singapore's Bishan Stadium will never forget.

00:58In that pouring rain, cheering on a Singaporean side, it sort of gave me goosebumps when I think about it.

01:04Obviously, as a commentator working on the match, I am quite good at being impartial, right?

01:09I don't think anyone expected the Lion City Sailors at the start of the competition to actually be able to play in the final.

01:14So the fact that they've already made it into that stage, you know,

01:18it allowed people like us, local football fans, to really dream and believe that we could actually do it.

01:24We could mix it with the big teams across Asia.

01:28And it was a wonderful story.

01:30I think, you know, Singaporeans can be so proud of what the Lion City Sailors have done.

01:33Currently ranked the 131st team in Asia by Opta's Power Rankings, the official statistics provider,

01:42Lion City Sailors defied the odds all the way through the competition.

01:46Emerging from Group F in the first place was a massive achievement,

01:50then overcoming Thailand's Nguang Thadong United in the round of 16.

01:54Further wins against J-League powerhouse Sanfretse Hiroshima in the quarterfinals

02:00and Australian side Sydney FC in the semifinals secured their spot in the decider.

02:06So, yes, they played well, but luck was also on their side.

02:11Lion City were all but eliminated from the competition in the first leg of the quarterfinal tie,

02:18losing 6-1 to Japanese side Sanfretse.

02:21However, due to an error made by Sanfretse management,

02:25that result was reversed to a 3-0 win for Lion City,

02:30who then went on to hold on to a 1-0 draw in the reverse leg and progressed to the semifinals.

02:37That was really funny because someone reached out to me.

02:40And then when someone told me that, you know,

02:42they may have played an ineligible player who was supposed to be suspended,

02:46Sanfretse Hiroshima is a very difficult team to play.

02:49But then, of course, when this news came to me, I was like,

02:51what?

02:52And that's when I think you start to believe that maybe the stars are aligning.

02:55You know, something really cosmically funny is happening.

02:59So, what is it about the Singapore Premier League that makes this achievement so remarkable?

03:05Officially, the league is rated just the 22nd-strongest domestic competition by the Asian Football Confederation,

03:13comprising of only nine teams, three of which are not actually eligible to represent Singapore in continental competitions.

03:20D.P.M.M., owned by the Sultan of Brunei,

03:24Alba X. Nigata, a satellite team of the Japanese club of the same name,

03:28and the Young Lions, who are the Singapore national youth team.

03:32Lion City is privately owned and has greatly benefited from the investment of Singapore billionaire Forrest Lee.

03:41So, with this cash injection, what ambitions does the club have on the international stage?

03:47I think it really showed, you know, what is possible.

03:52Yes, it takes time, it takes money.

03:54It's a club that wants to be more than just the best side in Singapore.

03:57It's a club that wants to be known across the region, known across Asia,

04:02and be given the opportunities to play against some of the best teams.

04:06You know, in Singapore football, we don't get too many opportunities to be excited about stuff in the game, right?

04:11So, when something like this comes along, it's an incredible experience for everyone involved.

04:17Singapore is a football-mad nation, with off-season matches involving touring European teams,

04:24often selling out the 50,000-seater national stadium.

04:28But the same can't be said for the interest in the local leagues.

04:32So, can the success of the sailors help grow the game domestically?

04:37Singapore is one of those weird countries where it's football-mad,

04:40but the attendance in the stadiums for SPL games is below 1,000, usually per game.

04:47And that's because most of the population prefers to watch the English Premier League.

04:52So, I have heard noise like that in the stadium before,

04:54but that was not a Singapore team, obviously.

04:56I was watching Arsenal versus Spurs back in 2012.

04:59So, that's when I heard, the last time I heard such noise.

05:02But for a local game, I think, yeah, I mean, for an LCS game,

05:06definitely that was the loudest I've ever heard it.

05:08How do we parlay this into the national team?

05:11How do we make these people who have experienced now a great live stadium experience, right?

05:16So, I think what LCS has achieved might perhaps encourage some people to feel that

05:22there may be some spillover effect for me.

05:25If I am an investor, I come in,

05:27I know that there'll be many eyeballs on the LCS game.

05:29And if I'm playing LCS, then I'm a beneficiary of that.

05:32I hope also that the club and the league take steps to cash in on this.

05:38You know, don't let the momentum slide.

05:40Yes, what a story this season has been then for one of Asia's most fascinating teams.

05:47The question now is, can they continue this success?

05:50Let us know your thoughts using the hashtag

05:52FootballNowLionCitySailors.

05:56That's all we've got time for though this week

05:57here from the Albate Stadium in Qatar.

06:00We'll see you next time.

06:02Bye for now.

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