Full Name: Brandon Thio Zhi Kai

Date of Birth: 17th September 2000

Nationality: Singaporean

Position: Center Midfield

 

Favourite Football Club: Liverpool FC

Favourite Football Player: Luis Suarez 

 

Creating history in the pages of ACS Primary's football journey, Brandon was the solid central midfielder for his school team that finished in the top 8 teams in the National Inter-Primary School tournament – the best his school football team had achieved.

 

Drawing inspiration from the “Miracle of Istanbul” – the dramatic victory of Liverpool in the 2005 Champions League Finals against AC Milan – Brandon loves the unpredictability of the game and how the term “the ball is round” is such an apt phrase to sport.

 

“Football is a fun game to play and can sometimes be dramatic. Like when Liverpool fought back against AC Milan from 3-0 to 3-3 and won on penalties to win their fifth European Cup in 2005. The excitement is that you do not know who the winner is until the end of the game.”

 

Quite a superb passer of the ball, Brandon, who possesses both excellent vision and the ability to dictate the pace and tempo of a game has a strong character and mentality to complement his technical excellence; whether dribbling or passing, he has the ability to pry open a defence. 

 

With a level of maturity beyond his age, this promising young footballer credits his improvement in his footballing abilities to his dedication, hard work and the regular trainings at the Fandi Ahmad Academy.

 

“Anybody can achieve the level of perfection in football with constant hard-work. The trainings from my coaches have helped me become a more intelligent player and improve on my defensive skills. During training sessions, there is more emphasis on ball work, which I like! I can execute more tricks now such as the scissors and step-over.”

 

Training consistently every week with the hopes of joining the Youth Sport Academies, Brandon believes that there are major problems as spotted by his coach in his technique that he needs to work on. 

 

“My left leg is my weakness and I always focus on using my left leg during drills and matches to condition and strengthen it. My ‘phobia’ of heading the ball is a disadvantage during aerial challenges so I always try to head the ball during matches at least twice as advised by my coaches.”

 

Composed, cultured and creative, this sturdy central midfielder revels in the opportunity of a lifetime for having trained under not one but two prominent ex-National legends of Singapore football – Fandi Ahmad and Tohari Paijan.

 

“It is an honour to even get a chance to see these ex-National players, let alone training under them. They impart on us the best possible tricks of the trade and it is such a great experience mingling with Coach Fandi and Coach Tohari.”