January 22, 2004

Mirko Grabovac is ready to fight claims that his international career with the Singapore national team is over. The Tampines Rovers striker has scored 153 goals in the S-league & no other striker has come close to matching his tally.

Singapore coach Raddy Avramovic had chosen to drop Home United striker Emgar Gonclaves & him from the national squad for the 1^st time when he named his squad for the 2004 pre-training camp.

It has lead to views believing both Emgar Gonclaves & him are flops in the citizenship scheme started by FAS as their inclusion has not brought any success.

With that also come the question of his commitment to Singapore as well as his age & he is unhappy at such views. He has stated he has always given his best when playing for Singapore in any international match & that he has not aged to the stage where he has proven ineffective for Singapore.

The fact remains that he has failed to hit the net in 11 internationals since making his debut against Uruguay in 2002.

He is ready therefore for the challenges ahead to get back to the national team. He feel a move to Tampines Rovers this season from SAFFC along with a recall to the national team will be the inspiration to give him a new lease of life.

He will also have help from his team-mates as Tampines Rovers currently has 7 ex-SAFFC players on their payroll & the familiar dressing-room will help him adapt to Tampines Rovers better.