Cardiff's Ng moves closer to Singapore dream

Perry Ng featured in 39 of Cardiff City's Championship games last season and has started all four in the current campaign

Cardiff City defender Perry Ng has moved a step closer to playing for Singapore after training with their national squad this week.

Liverpool-born Ng has long held the desire to play for the country of his grandfather but has been frustrated by legal issues over citizenship and passports.

The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) said Ng and Japanese midfielder Kyoga Nakamura have joined the national squad during the current Fifa international window "to familiarise themselves with the Lions set-up".

Ng's ambition is to be the first heritage athlete to gain Singaporean citizenship and make his mark at international level.

“It’s going to be a dream come true to walk out at the National Stadium. It will be a proud moment for me and my family,” Ng told the FAS website.

"I've been pushing this for nearly 10 years now, I can't believe I'm actually here.

"My granddad was born in Singapore, he then moved to Liverpool, he loved The Beatles, and he fell in love with my nan, and then opened up a business in Liverpool which my father still runs today.

"So to represent my granddad who passed away nearly 12 years ago now, that’s something I really want to strive for and I’d regret if I didn’t do it."

The 28-year-old former Crewe player has previously explained the complications of becoming a Singapore citizen, admitting he found it confusing.

Because Singapore does not allow dual citizenship he would be required to give up his British passport.

In an interview in 2023, he said: "There's a lot of legal stuff involved which is very difficult.

"It's just stuff with my passport and how it would affect me here, which I'm not quite sure of at the minute, so hopefully I can get it solved. I'd love to do it."

Ng's citizenship hurdles are still to be fully resolved but, having joined up with Singapore coach Tsutomu Ogura's squad this week, he is keen to show what he can do.

"I’ve played a lot of games in my career, I think I can bring a lot of experience, I can play a lot of different positions so hopefully I can help the team in that way," he said after his first training session in Kallang.

"I’ve heard good things of the coach, my team-mate at Cardiff [Ryotaro Tsunoda] used to work under him, he’s told me some good things, I’m looking forward to it and hopefully we can have success together.

"It's good to meet everyone and build a relationship with the players and the staff, and to show my commitment to Singapore and why I want to do it – and to also get some nice warm weather training, which I’m sure will help me when I go back to Cardiff."

Signed from Crewe in 2021, Ng was Cardiff's player of the year for the 2022–23 campaign, signing a new three-year contract at the end of that season to keep him at the club until the summer of 2026.