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-------------------
If he moves to Zurich, it's good too. There's a chance for him to play in the Uefa Cup.
