Fabio Cannavaro, Harry Kewell on shortlist for Singapore football coach

A World Cup winner, a former English Premier League assistant coach, and a former Liverpool player and Champions League winner are among the candidates that are 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. Ogura 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 he did as a player, with his last two stints being short-lived spells as coach of Udinese in the Italian 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 head coach with J1 League powerhouse 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 22 matches.

The former Liverpool and Leeds United star has had four senior managerial appointments 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 their first major trophy in 17 years with a 1-0 victory over Manchester United in the Europa League final in May.

Prior to the Spurs stint, Montgomery, 43, won the 2023 A-League championship with Central Coast Mariners. Later that year he became head coach of Hibernian in the Scottish Premier League, 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 name is a familiar figure in Asean football - Mano Polking who led Thailand to 2020 and 2022 Asean Championship triumphs. The War Elephants impressed with a stylish, attractive brand of football under his charge.

The 49-year-old Brazilian is currently head 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 the association want a strong communicator, a coach who has managed in Asian football, and a manager 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.

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

It will serve as preparation for October's crucial Asian Cup qualifying matches. 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.