Ikhsan to play in Norway's top flight

The Lions may be in the midst of a four-day rest period before their final AFF Suzuki Cup Group A match against Thailand tomorrow, but early yesterday morning, striker Ikhsan Fandi was sweating as his club FK Jerv were locked in a battle against SK Brann in a play-off for a place in the Norwegian top tier.

Finally, at about 5am, the 22-year-old striker could heave a sigh of relief as Jerv won 8-7 on penalties after the match ended 4-4 after extra-time. The result earned the club promotion to the top flight for the first time, meaning Ikhsan is set to be the first Singaporean to play in the Eliteserien.

He said: "I feel so happy and proud of my club for securing promotion and I'm looking forward to featuring and playing well against the big boys in the Eliteserien next season."

The 1.83m attacker, who has 22 caps and 10 goals for Singapore, moved to Norway when he joined Raufoss IL in 2019. The following season, he signed for Jerv until the end of 2022.

In three years of Norwegian football, he has scored 16 goals in 77 games, averaging a goal every 199 minutes.

At the ongoing Asean Football Federation Championship on home soil, he grabbed a brace in Singapore's 3-0 win over Myanmar on Dec 5 as his team went on to qualify for the semi-finals for the first time since 2012.