Ilhan Fandi out for four weeks due to leg injury suffered during Lions’ Asian Cup qualifying win

SINGAPORE – Lions fans can breathe a sigh of relief as their hero of the hour Ilhan Fandi will not be out for long, despite earlier concerns that he might have suffered a serious injury after his heroics in the

2-1 Asian Cup qualifying win

in Hong Kong on Nov 18.

Holding a crutch and with his left foot in a protective boot, the 23-year-old arrived at Changi Airport the following day with the rest of the Singapore team and headed straight to the hospital for checks.

The doctor told him on Nov 20 that there was no fracture.

However, there was some soft tissue injury in his left leg and he is expected to be out for three to four weeks.

Ilhan will remain in Singapore for physiotherapy before returning to Thai giants Buriram United, where he is on loan from parent club BG Pathum United, on Nov 27.

He told The Straits Times: “At first, I thought it was something bad because I heard a loud crack in my left foot and was very worried. Thank God, it was not as serious as I feared.

“I’m thankful for all the concern from the fans. I was just doing my job and these things can happen. The most important thing was that we qualified for the Asian Cup.

“I’m also grateful for the national team physio, kak (Malay for sister) Fizah (Nurhafizah Abu Sujad) and the physios from Buriram. With all the help and support, I will be back soon.”

Ilhan’s upbeat tone is a welcome assurance for his teams, as he has burst into form after recovering from a serious knee injury.

With Buriram, he registered two goals and two assists in four games, and has three goals and one assist in his last six matches for the national team, taking his tally to five goals in 23 appearances.

None will be more important than his contributions against Hong Kong, where he set up Shawal Anuar’s equaliser in the 64th minute and scored the winner four minutes later.

With Singapore trailing the hosts 1-0 at the Kai Tak Stadium, Ilhan was brought on as a 57th-minute substitute for Glenn Kweh and did not take long to turn the tide.

First, he played a lovely overhead pass with his right foot for Shawal to equalise, before seizing on a loose ball to blast in the winner with his left foot to help the Lions secure historic Asian Cup qualification.

Having clinched top spot in Group C with a game to spare, Singapore will join five other group winners of the third-round qualifiers and 18 other sides, such as Japan and South Korea, who have qualified for the continental showpiece in Saudi Arabia in 2027.

In the process, the Lions also climbed four spots to world No. 151 in the Fifa ranking, their highest since they were 149th in June 2016.

They had featured only once at the continental showpiece when they hosted the 1984 edition, a 10-team tournament featuring two groups, with Singapore finishing fourth out of fifth in Group B.

For the past few days, Singapore fans had been sweating over Ilhan’s foot injury after seeing him go down in Hong Kong.

In the 78th minute at the Kai Tak Stadium, he ran down the left flank alongside Hong Kong defender Shinichi Chan and suddenly pulled up, hobbling off as he had run into a pothole on the pitch that had been overused by the China National Games rugby sevens tournament. 

While he returned to play, he went down again in the 81st minute and was rudely dragged up to his feet by Hong Kong defender Leon Jones, prompting teammates Lionel Tan, Jordan Emaviwe and Shawal to form a circle around their injured comrade.

Replaced by Jacob Mahler in the 85th minute, he was then stretchered off by local medics, one of whom appeared over-exuberant as he tried to hurry proceedings and fist-pumped to the crowd before appearing to be stopped by his colleague.

An Instagram account @sanstrong.rap.2024 later claimed to be the medic in question and explained that he had wanted to save time for his national team.

He added: “I am a referee, I can tell better than you if injuries are serious or not, real or fake.

“Singapore were leading 2-1, and there were about 10 minutes left. Even if it’s a small knock, experienced players would sometimes exaggerate to waste time. While keeping the player safe, I moved fast to prevent time-wasting. For serious injuries like concussions or fractures, I would never rush, player safety is the priority.”

In response, Ilhan said the behaviour of others is beyond his control.

He added: “I’m sure everyone saw it, and they will have to deal with it. I’m just a player trying to do my best for my team and ultimately, like I said, the most important thing was we won the match and we are going to Saudi Arabia (for the 2027 Asian Cup).”