World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro in list of top names for Singapore national football coach job

SINGAPORE – A World Cup winner, a former English Premier League assistant coach, and a former Liverpool player and Champions League winner are among the candidates on an extended shortlist for the Singapore national football coach’s role, The Straits Times has learnt.

Over 60 candidates have expressed interest in taking the hot seat since Japanese tactician

Tsutomu Ogura resigned due to personal reasons

on June 24. He guided the Lions to the top of their Asian Cup qualifying group on goals scored, leaving them potentially four positive results away from a maiden qualification for the continental showpiece.

In its hunt for a new head coach, the Football Association of Singapore’s (FAS) new leadership team’s commitment to the search has brought a host of top names from abroad.

Several sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity told ST that numerous interviews have already been conducted by the FAS’ top brass, and an initial list of candidates has now been whittled down to around 15 names.

They include Fabio Cannavaro, captain of Italy’s World Cup-winning team in 2006. The 51-year-old’s coaching curriculum vitae includes winning the Chinese Super League in 2019 with Guangzhou Evergrande.

Regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time, Cannavaro is one of just three defenders to have won the Ballon d’Or, alongside Franz Beckenbauer and Matthias Sammer.

His coaching career has yet to hit the heights of his playing tenure, with his last two stints being short-lived spells as coach of Udinese in Italy’s Serie A and most recently at Croatian giants Dinamo Zagreb.

He does have experience in Asia with spells as a club coach in Saudi Arabia and China.

Another name on the shortlist is former Australia winger Harry Kewell, who won the 2005 Champions League with Liverpool as a player. The 46-year-old Australian’s last role was as coach of J1 League powerhouses Yokohama F. Marinos, where he was dismissed after less than seven months.

Kewell reached the Asian Football Confederation Champions League final in his first season at the helm, but struggled in Japan’s top flight, where he won just eight out of 23 matches.

The former Liverpool and Leeds United star had four senior managerial positions in England’s lower divisions after hanging up his boots in 2014, with little success at Crawley Town, Notts County, Oldham Athletic and Barnet.

Kewell was also an assistant coach to Ange Postecoglou at Celtic when he joined the Scottish side in 2022, before leaving for the Marinos role in January 2024.

Another former Postecoglou assistant who is among the candidates is Nick Montgomery, who was most recently an assistant coach at English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur.

The Englishman left Spurs in June along with Postecoglou after the Australian manager was sacked despite guiding the club to the Europa League – their first major trophy in 17 years.

Montgomery, 43, won the 2023 A-League championship with Central Coast Mariners and later that year he became manager of Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership, but was sacked in May 2024.

Other names believed to be on the shortlist include former Persib Bandung and Indonesia national team coach Luis Milla; Serbian coach Nestor El Maestro, who has had spells at Saudi Pro League club Al-Taawoun and Slovakia’s Spartak Trnava; former New Zealand national coach Anthony Hudson, who is currently the Football Association of Thailand’s technical director; and former Iraq coach Jesus Casas.

Another contender is a familiar figure in Asean football – Mano Polking led Thailand to the 2020 and 2022 Asean Championship titles. The War Elephants impressed with a stylish, attractive brand of football under his charge.

The 49-year-old Brazilian is currently coach of Vietnamese side Cong An Ha Noi, with whom he won the 2025 Vietnamese National Cup.

ST understands that the FAS made it clear in the search that they want a strong communicator, a coach who has worked in Asian football, and someone who has made the most out of the resources at his disposal, among other considerations.

More interviews will take place in the coming weeks before the shortlist is further whittled down and a decision is reached. On top of salary demands, the FAS and the selected candidate will also need to settle on the size of staff that the latter will look to bring along, if any.

Football commentator and former Singapore Premier League (SPL) coach Khidhir Khamis said that the FAS is sending a “statement of intent” with the calibre of candidates.

“It is good that they are looking at coaches outside of Japan for a start and searching globally for who they feel is the best for the role,” said the 40-year-old.

“People will be able to recognise the different direction that the FAS is heading in and there is bound to be excitement because of the names. It’s a good sign.”

While Kewell and Cannavaro are names that will get most fans’ attention, Khidhir urged caution, noting that they have not had much success as coaches.

He added: “Maybe these guys are big names in football but I am not sure if they have the pedigree to be national coaches. It is wrong to just go for a big name without the confidence that they can steer us forward.

‘We need to look at coaches who have had success closer to home.”

Agreeing, sports broadcaster and former professional footballer Rhysh Roshan Rai said that the FAS “shouldn’t just aim for a huge name if they haven’t shown they can produce in the job”.

He added: “We should also remember that this is an international level coaching job. It is a great opportunity for a coach and to put this on their resume in the longer term.

“It shouldn’t be just about whether we can attract them but they also need to show why we should hire them.”

He said that Polking and Casas stood out as candidates, as the former has been in the region for a long time and is a “fantastic coach and man manager”, while Casas “did a solid job while with Iraq”. 

“Polking is also someone with experience, a track record of success, charisma, is a popular figure with his players and wants his teams to play entertaining football,” he added.

In the interim, former BG Tampines Rovers coach Gavin Lee, 34, is leading the Lions, who will face Causeway rivals Malaysia in a friendly at Kuala Lumpur’s Bukit Jalil Stadium on Sept 4.

It will serve as preparation for October’s crucial Asian Cup qualifiers. Singapore are top of Group C on goals scored, ahead of Hong Kong (four points), Bangladesh and India, who have a point apiece.

Only the group winners will advance to the 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia. Singapore, who face India in back-to-back matches in October, have never qualified for the Asian Cup on merit, with their only appearance coming as hosts in 1984.