Brotherly shove takes him to TNP-Dollah Kassim Award nomination
National Football Academy Under-18 midfielder Mulhelmy Suhaimi believes strongly in the virtue of hard work.
Even if he wanted to drop off the pace and skive, he wouldn't be able to.
Home is a competitive place, with older brother Muhaimin seemingly making a habit of breaking new ground.
And their football race never stops, even in the virtual world.
"There's sibling rivalry in just about everything from (video game) Fifa 2014, to the schools that we go to and the teams that we play for," said 18-year-old Mulhelmy, who is a year younger.
"When I was in primary school, he got into the Singapore Sports School, and then it became a challenge for me to do the same.
"Now, he's with the Courts Young Lions, playing in the S.League, and I'm hoping to catch up and do the same too."
Muhaimin was part of the 2010 Youth Olympic Games bronze-winning team, and this year became the first player from that squad to score a goal in the S.League, in the Young Lions' 3-2 defeat by Warriors FC.
But the younger brother - one of six nominees for The New Paper Dollah Kassim Award - is no slouch either.
His team lit up Jalan Besar Stadium and the local football fraternity with a 4-0 thumping of Juventus during the 2011 Lion City Cup, where they eventually finished third in the youth tournament.
"That was the best moment in my life. No one expected that we could beat a big European team like Juventus, and we didn't just compete, we showed that we could play football against the best, and we were much better than them," he said, with a glint in his eye.
DREAM
Mulhelmy does dream of pulling on the Singapore shirt for the senior national team but, in that vision, it isn't his brother playing alongside him but that Lion City Cup class of 2011 which was moulded by former NFA coach Dejan Gluscevic.
"Dejan really got us to bond as a team, we felt like a family, and our chemistry was really strong," he said.
"We were not afraid of anyone, we worked for one another, and I believe that if our team can come together again, we could really go far."
But Mulhelmy also knows that there is a lot of hard work towards his dream of making it into the Young Lions.
"I play simple football, passing and moving, without show-boating, but I know that to be effective, I need to improve my fitness levels," he said.
"And I cannot slack. If I do, I'll lose my place in the team, but that won't happen.
"My brother always tells me that I'm worse than him, always below him.
"It makes me feel like kicking him, but I guess that is a constant motivation for me to work harder."
"My brother always tells me that I’m worse than him, always below him. It makes me feel like kicking him, but I guess that is a constant motivation for me to work harder."
— Mulhelmy Suhaimi, on older brother Muhaimin
FACT FILE
- Name: Mulhelmy Suhaimi
- Date of Birth: Jan 22, 1996
- Age: 18
- Team: NFA U-18
- Height: 1.69m
- Weight: 63kg
- Position: Central midfielder
- Favourite team: Barcelona
- Favourite player: Andres Iniesta
DID YOU KNOW?
Mulhelmy played alongside the likes of Adam Swandi, Mahathir Azeman, and Amirul Adli in the Lion City Cup. He is motivated by the fact that both Adam and Amirul already have senior international caps, and by Mahathir's stint with Brazilian side Boavista.
- The Dollah Kassim Award winner will receive the Singapore Pools' Passport to Excellence prize, which funds the cost of sending the recipient for an overseas training stint. Singapore Pools launched the incentive in 2010 to nurture young sports talent, in line with its commitment as a leading partner in the sports community.
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