Lewis trains at Man City
Lions' No. 1 is first S'porean to train with Premiership club's
first team
By Wang Meng Meng
ST FILE PHOTO
ONLY rarely is a man the envy of his entire nation and Lionel Lewis
finds himself in that position right now.
Most Singaporeans must satisfy themselves by simply watching
Premier League clubs play.
Lewis is the first Singaporean to train with a Premier League
club's first team, with a possibility of being signed.
The goalkeeper has been practising with Manchester City's first
team since Tuesday, thanks to an initiative by Football Association
of Singapore vice-president Lieutenant-General (Retired) Ng Jui
Ping.
But to join the Premier League's fourth-placed team, he has to
fulfil work permit requirements.
British Home Office rules state that a foreign player will be
granted a work permit, only if he has played in 75 per cent of his
country's international games in the two years preceding the
application.
Although he meets this criterion, it is another requirement that
will rule him out.
A player's country must make the top 70 of the world rankings, and
Singapore are ranked 126th by football's governing body,
Fifa.
But Lewis still has a chance of making it to one of City's partner
clubs should he impress during his one-week stay in
Manchester.
City have alliances with Grasshopper Zurich (Switzerland), FC
Moscow (Russia), Perth Glory (Australia), Shanghai Shenhua (China),
Thanda Royal Zulu (South Africa) and Chonburi FC (Thailand).
The English club work with them in areas such as coaching
exchanges, player analysis techniques and youth tournaments.
Lewis' stint was confirmed by City executive director Taweesuk Jack
Srisumrid.
The Thai told The Straits Times: 'City will give Lionel an
opportunity to train and play in practice matches with the first
team. This is the initial phase.
'This is all part of our vision to build the club into a global
brand, especially in Asia and South-east Asia.
'He will spend time with the Premier League squad this week, after
which he will return to Singapore for his Christmas holidays.
'In January, he will be invited by the club for a training camp in
Australia where we will assess his potential further.
'It is only after a thorough review process that the club will be
able to make a decision whether and where to sign him after
that.
'We will also consider the suitability of placing him in one of our
partner clubs.'
Lewis' presence in Manchester was acknowledged by manager
Sven-Goran Eriksson on Thursday.
He told Sky Sports: 'We have a goalkeeper from Singapore (Lewis)
and a striker from Saudi Arabia (Yasser Al Qahtani) training with
us here, so we'll see what's happening there.'
Lt-Gen (Ret) Ng explained: 'Lionel was picked because of his
outstanding track record.
'He is not only a regular for the national team, but also one of
the most highly-rated goalkeepers in Asia. He is the best candidate
to start the ball rolling for Singapore in England.
'This is not some stint where he only gets to play with the
reserves. He will train with City's first team and we'll see how
far he can go.'
Capped 48 times by Singapore, Lewis was named the Most Valuable
Player in the 2005 Tiger Cup when he helped Singapore claim the
regional crown.
The following year, he was the only Asean player to be nominated in
the Asian Football Confederation's Player of the Year award.
He was also the only goalkeeper to be nominated and Singapore's
only nominee in the award's 13-year history.
In a telephone interview from Manchester, Lewis was understandably
unable to contain his excitement. He said: 'It's every footballer's
dream to play at the highest level.
'It's great to work in a small group with professionals like
Andreas Isaksson, Joe Hart and Kasper Schmeichel.
'It's very tough work, but I feel that I've learnt a lot in this
short time.'
Last month, City signed three Thai internationals, right-back Suree
Sukha, centre-back Kiatprawut Saiwaew and striker Teerasil Dangda,
after they impressed in trials.
Although the trio have yet to be handed a shirt number at
Eastlands, Perth and Grasshopper have both expressed an interest in
taking them on loan.
[email protected]
DIFFERENT PACE
'It's great to work in a small group with professionals like
Isaksson, Hart and Schmeichel. The training is certainly more
intensive than what I'm used to in Singapore.'
LIONEL LEWIS
http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_189236.html
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If he moves to Zurich, it's good too. There's a chance for him to
play in the Uefa Cup.
