Nazri Nasir (born 17 January 1971) is a Singaporean professional

football manager ''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game bega ...

and former

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 ...

. He was the captain of the Singapore national team from 1997 to 2003, and led the team to the

1998 AFF Championship The 1998 AFF Championship, officially known as the 1998 Tiger Cup, was the second edition of the AFF Championship. It was held in Vietnam from 26 August to 5 September 1998. Thailand had been the defending champions, but lost to Vietnam in the ...

title. He was a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

known for his "combative, hard-running and ferocious tackling style".

Club career

Nazri began his career with Jurong Town in Singapore's

FAS Premier League The Football Association of Singapore Premier League was a semi-professional football league competition held in Singapore between 1988 and 1995. The Premier League succeeded the National Football League Division One as the top tier of the Singapor ...

in 1988. where he won the

President's Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe. Europe competes against the United States in a similar but considerably ...

in 1988 and 1989. Along with Rafi Ali and Sanizal Jamil, he was sent for a two-month training stint with

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

club

FC Nitra FC Nitra is a Slovak association football club, playing in the town of Nitra. Established in 1909, FC Nitra is one of the oldest football clubs in Slovakia. History Czechoslovak era Nitra were promoted and relegated 4 times from the Czechoslov ...

under the Goh Chok Tong Talent Scheme in 1990. He rejected an offer of a professional contract from FC Nitra and signed for Balestier United in 1991 on a two-year deal worth S$10,000 per year. In February 1994, Nazri signed a two-year contract with the Singapore Lions which went on to achieve the Malaysian League and Malaysia Cup double that year. Following the withdrawal of the team from Malaysian competitions and the upcoming

Southeast Asian Games The Southeast Asian Games, also known as the SEA Games, is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with sup ...

, the FAS decided to enter the Lions in the 1995 Premier League pending the formation of Singapore's

S.League The Singapore Premier League, commonly abbreviated as SPL, officially known as the AIA Singapore Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a men's professional football league sanctioned by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), which re ...

. The team went the season unbeaten as they finished winners. Nazri played for Sembawang Rangers in the inaugural S.League season before signing for

Singapore Armed Forces The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are the military services of the Republic of Singapore, responsible for protecting and defending the security interests and the sovereignty of the country. A military component of the Ministry of Defence (MIND ...

the following year. He won the S.League in 1997, 1998 and 2000 with the club. In 2002, he signed for

Tampines Rovers Tampines Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Tampines, Singapore, that competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of Singapore football league system. Founded in 1945, the club have won the national league c ...

where he played as a central defender, winning the league in 2004 and 2005. Nazri retired as a player at the age of 37 in 2008.

International career

Nazri made his international debut against

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

on 13 September 1990. He was riding his motorbike when he was injured in a road traffic accident on the expressway on 19 November 1992; his backbone and right collarbone were fractured. He began retraining five weeks later but did not recover sufficiently to play in the

Merdeka Tournament Merdeka Tournament or Pestabola Merdeka is a friendly football tournament held in Malaysia to commemorate the Independence Day. The competition bears the Malay word for independence. As of 2022, it has been held 40 times, and decreasingly in ...

in February 1993. Nazri took over the captaincy in 1997 and skippered Singapore to the 1998 ASEAN Football Championship title. He was inducted into the

FIFA Century Club List of footballers with 100 or more caps may refer to: * List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps In men's association football, a cap is traditionally awarded in international football to a player making an official matc ...

in June 2007.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, Nazri was appointed as the general manager at former club Tampines Rovers. He was the coach of the National Football Academy U-15 teams that participated in the 2012 and 2013 Lion City Cup. On 16 December 2013, he was confirmed as assistant to the LionsXII head coach and former Singapore Lions teammate

Fandi Ahmad Fandi bin Ahmad (born 29 May 1962) is a Singaporean professional football manager and former player. During his professional career, he mainly played as a striker, but also played as a midfielder. Along with the Singapore FA, he had also pla ...

. Nazri was appointed to interim head coach position of Singapore national team for the 2019 Airmarine Cup friendly tournament in March 2019. With the team, he won the semifinal match against Malaysia 1-0 before losing in the final to

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

4–5 on penalties, having tied 1–1 in normal time.

Personal life

Nazri was born to father, Nasir Ahmad (d. December 1993, aged 69) and mother, Aisha Abdullah. He credits his mother for supporting his football career despite him having asthma at eight years old and poor grades in his studies. He has six brothers and four sisters. His older brother, Amin, is a former

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

international defender and current

Hougang United Hougang United Football Club is a Singaporean professional football club that competes in the Singapore Premier League. History Hougang United Football Club was founded as Marine Castle United Football Club, which was formed by Newcastle Unit ...

coach. He completed his primary education at

Sembawang Primary School This is a list of primary schools in Singapore. Children typically start their primary education in the year they turn seven. Primary education lasts six years, and is compulsory for all Singapore citizens. Primary schools in Singapore are clas ...

and secondary education at Si Ling Secondary School. He graduated with a NTC 2 certificate in architectural draughting from McNair Vocational Institute. Nazri married air stewardess Sharifah Nur Leila on 27 November 1994. His sons, Adam and Amer Hakeem, play under the National Football Academy set-up as centre-backs.

Honours

Club

Jurong Town *

: 1988, 1989 Singapore Lions * M.League: 1994 * Malaysia Cup: 1994 Singapore Armed Forces *

: 1997, 1998, 2000 *

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

: 1997, 1999 Tampines Rovers *

: 2004, 2005 *

: 2002, 2004, 2006

International

Singapore *

ASEAN Football Championship The ASEAN Football Federation Championship (less formally the AFF Championship or AFF Cup), currently known as the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup for sponsorship reason, is the primary association football tournament organized by the ASEAN Football ...

: 1998

Individual

*S.League People's Choice Award: 2004

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nazri Nasir Singaporean footballers Singapore international footballers Singapore FA players Tampines Rovers FC players FIFA Century Club 1971 births Living people Jurong FC players Balestier Khalsa FC players Home United FC players Sembawang Rangers FC players Warriors FC players Singapore Premier League players Singaporean people of Malay descent Association football midfielders Footballers at the 1990 Asian Games Southeast Asian Games bronze medalists for Singapore Southeast Asian Games medalists in football Competitors at the 1991 Southeast Asian Games Asian Games competitors for Singapore Si Ling Secondary School alumni Singapore national football team managers