Irfan Fandi in the spotlight as S.League season approaches

SINGAPORE — Irfan Fandi is arguably the most exciting young talent that has emerged out of Singapore in recent years.

He first caught the public eye at the 2013 Lion City Cup, when he scored against the youth teams of Arsenal and Eintracht Frankfurt. Being the eldest child of Singapore’s favourite footballing son, Fandi Ahmad, and with the 21st season of the S.League due to kick off on Feb 13, expectations are high for Irfan’s performance.

“During the Lion City Cup, that point of time was quite pressurising for me because before that, I didn’t even play any games for the national flag and people were comparing (me to my father), but after that, everything was fine,” said Irfan in an interview with Channel NewsAsia.

The 18-year-old striker burst onto the international scene when he became the youngest player picked for the Lions 2015 SEA Games squad. Prior to that, Irfan spent 18 months in the Chilean 1st division - an experience that has made him more determined than ever to succeed in football.

“I trained with players that came down from the ghetto and I went to their house before,” he said. “I see how they lived and that changed me a lot. I know I come from an okay family, when I went there it just changed everything for me. Now, everytime I’m in training, I always give 100 per cent.”

After returning to Singapore, the Irfan had a brief stint with Courts Young Lions before he joined Home United for the upcoming season.

“The players here are really experienced and I really want to learn from the older players,” he said. “At the same time, there are players like Ken Ilso, a striker who has played in the German Bundesliga. I really want to learn from him and hopefully I can contribute to the team.”

With Irfan and Ilso leading their attack, Home will be hoping to improve on their sixth place finish last season. CHANNEL NEWSASIA

Tune in to SportsWorld on Channel NewsAsia at 10.30pm, Sunday (Jan 31) for the interview.