Azhar Baksin (born 26 November 1976) is an ex- Singaporean international

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for NFL Division 2 side

Admiralty FC Admiralty Football Club, also commonly known as Admiralty FC, is a association football, football club which plays in the Division 2 of the Singapore Football League, the third tier of football in Singapore. The club is currently participating ...

. Apart from his playing duties, he was also appointed as the coach of the

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

following the departure of former player coach Mohd Noor Ali to

Geylang United Geylang International Football Club is a professional football club based in Bedok, Singapore, that competes in Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club was founded in 1973 and played their first season in 1 ...

in June 2012.

Club career

A true veteran, Azhar has played for S.League sides

Tampines Rovers Tampines Rovers Football Club (currently known as BG Tampines Rovers due to sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football, football club based in Tampines, Singapore, that competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of t ...

Home United Lion City Sailors Football Club, commonly referred to as the Sailors or LCS, is a Singaporean professional football club based in Bishan. It competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of the Singapore football league system. Founded ...

and

Sengkang Punggol Hougang United Football Club is a professional football club based in Hougang, Singapore. The club competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of Singaporean football. Founded in 1998 as Marine Castle United, the club changed its na ...

, before switching over to

during the 2012 NFL Division 2 season. Azhar scored a goal from the half-way line when he was playing for

against

Woodlands Wellington Woodlands Wellington Football Club was a professional association football, football club based in Woodlands, Singapore, Woodlands, Singapore which played in the S.League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club took part in S.League ...

in 2002, lobbing the ball past Woodlands' custodian

Fadhil Salim Fadhil Salim (born 24 January 1983) is a retired Singaporean goalkeeper who last played for S.League club Hougang United. He is currently the goalkeeper coach of Singapore Premier League club Albirex Niigata (S). Playing career Fadhil star ...

. That goal was subsequently nominated for the 2002 S.League Goal of the Season but did not win in the end. His honours include winning the S.League with

in 2000, and the S.League and

Singapore Cup The Singapore Cup is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic Singaporean football. Established in 1998, it is the foremost prestigious cup competition in the country. It is open to clubs in the Singapore Premier League. Since ...

double with

in the 2003 season.

International career

Azhar Baksin was first noted as an outstanding player during a training tour of

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

for the Singapore national team's reserve squad between 21 and 30 November 1997. He emerged as the top contender among the up-and-coming footballers, which included Indra Sahdan and Ahmad Latiff Khamaruddin, for a national team call-up based on his performances during the training tour. He was called up to the Singapore national team after scoring two goals in

' 2-0 victory against

Gombak United Gombak United Football Club was a professional football club based in Bukit Gombak, Singapore that last competed in the top tier of the Singapore football league system. The club took part in the S.League from 1998 to 2002, and from 2006 to 2 ...

on 21 March 1998. Azhar played in the

Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior list of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the contin ...

qualifier against a star-studded

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

team featuring the likes of

Shinji Ono is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He started his senior career with J1 League side Urawa Reds before moving Dutch side Feyenoord in 2001 where he won the UEFA Cup in 2002. He returned to Urawa Reds in 200 ...

and

Masashi Nakayama , nicknamed "Gon" during his playing career, is a Japanese professional football manager and former player. He was the J.League Most Valuable Player in 1998, J.League Top Scorer in 1998 and 2000, and J.League Best XI in 1997, 1998, 2000, 20 ...

in 2000. One of his most memorable international goals came in the NTUC Income Challenge Cup in 2002, where he fired home a blistering right-footed volley to lift

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

to a 2-1 victory over

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

after coming on as a second-half substitute. Azhar's fine form with

made him a notable replacement for the off-form

Mirko Grabovac Mirko Grabovac (born 19 September 1971) is a Croatian former professional football player and coach. He changed his nationality to Singaporean in 2001 in order to play for the Singapore national football team, before renouncing it in 2008. He ...

during the

2002 Tiger Cup The 2002 AFF Championship, officially known as the 2002 Tiger Cup, was co-hosted by Indonesia and Singapore from 15 to 29 December 2002 and participated by all national teams of the member associations of the ASEAN Football Federation entered e ...

. He also has the honour of being the first

international to score at the newly constructed

Jalan Besar Stadium Jalan Besar Stadium, officially the Jalan Besar ActiveSG Stadium, is a football stadium located in Kallang, Singapore. The stadium is part of the Jalan Besar Sports and Recreation Centre, a community sports facility that includes the stadium as ...

on 4 March 2003 after just 8 minutes in an international friendly against the

Maldives The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, abou ...

. The match ended 4-1 in favour to the

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is se ...

with Indra Sahdan,

Syed Fadhil Syed Mohamad Fadhil Naser Al-Yahaya (born 16 April 1981) is a professional soccer player who plays for the Warriors FC in the S.League and the Singapore national football team. He is a natural defensive midfielder. Club career Fadhil has prev ...

and Fadzuhasny Juraimi getting on the scoresheet for

as well.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Azhar Baksin Singaporean men's footballers Singapore Premier League players Singapore men's international footballers 1976 births Living people Tampines Rovers FC players Geylang International FC players Lion City Sailors FC players Hougang United FC players Men's association football midfielders