Lionesses ‘play to win’ now, says Singapore women’s football coach

SINGAPORE – Almost two years into his role as the Lionesses coach, Karim Bencherifa said the national women’s football team have seen a “mindset shift”, with the players now striving to “play to win” as they aim to become more competitive in the region.

The 57-year-old recently signed a one-year extension that will keep him in the position till March 2026, and he is looking forward to building on what the team have accomplished so far.

“Singapore doesn’t play any more to not lose,” Bencherifa said.

“There’s a big difference between playing the game to not lose – whether from the tactical choices like when you go in the game, you try to defend, play with one striker, you wait for the opposition. That’s part of playing not to lose.

“The mindset shift is to play to win. That’s what we try to do now – high pressure on the opponent, playing two strikers, keeping possession.”

He credits this shift to the presence of overseas-based players such as Danelle Tan, who plays for A-League Women side Brisbane Roar, and recipients of the Unleash The Roar! scholarship.

On staying another year, Bencherifa said: “When I came in March 2023, I feel like I have started a project. It took me a few months to understand the environment and I started to work towards the future as well.

“It’s good for a coach to work on the present, on immediate results, but also working on the future, that’s important.”

Promoting youth is one of the areas that Bencherifa, who previously coached Tanjong Pagar United, Woodlands Wellington and Warriors FC, has focused on since his appointment.

Young players such as defender Qarissa Ramadhani and midfielder Cara Chang, both 16, featured in the Lionesses’ Asean Football Federation (AFF) Women’s Cup campaign in December, when world No. 138 Singapore finished third and earned their Asean Women’s Championship berth.

While the qualification was an achievement worth celebrating for the team, there have also been tough moments, with the Lionesses losing heavily to their Asian counterparts.

At the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, they lost 7-0 and 10-0 to eventual silver medallists North Korea. The same year, they were handed an 8-0 defeat by Bangladesh in a friendly.

But a 9-0 victory over Macau in July 2024 helped build their confidence, with Bencherifa saying that he was heartened to see the players staying back after the match to interact with supporters at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

Despite the varying scorelines, the Moroccan believes his charges are “getting there” in terms of being more competitive in South-east Asia.

He hopes to build on the experiences of the past two years, especially with three major tournaments lined up in 2025. The team will compete in the Asian Cup qualifiers in June and the Asean Women’s Championship, which is likely to be in October, and December’s SEA Games in Bangkok.

Bencherifa maintained that it is too early to set targets, noting that most of his squad are not full-time players and they have to juggle their national team and club commitments with other endeavours.

However, he is trying a different approach to training, making it a more collaborative effort with the Deloitte Women’s Premier League teams in 2025.

Instead of twice-weekly training sessions with the national team, they will have three sessions at the end of the month – and two optional sessions – so as not to disrupt the club season significantly.

He said: “We need to work together if we want to have a good national team, the whole family of Singapore women’s football to work towards our objectives.

“If the national team does well, it’s very good not just for the team, it’s good for the league, it’s positive.”

Raising the level of the national team would also require more “quality, high-intensity training” and international matches, he added.

He has also identified specific areas – including fitness, strength and conditioning, and finishing – that he hopes to improve over the next 13 months.

Looking to the year ahead, Lionesses captain Siti Rosnani Azman said: “It won’t be easy, with three major tournaments coming up alongside our club duties, but we’ll be ready to give our best.

“Our aim is to qualify for the next round in every competition we take on and maintain a winning mentality, regardless of our opponents while enjoying the journey along the way.”