FOREIGN STINTS HAVE BIG IMPACT ON TEENS

Scholarship recipients Natasha, Chloe feel their experience will benefit the Lionesses

- Lin Tianbao

On the first day of their stints abroad while on Unleash the Roar! (UTR) scholarships, Singapore's Natasha Naszri, 16, and Chloe Koh, 17, were dealt a reality check.

The duo, who each have two senior caps, were taken aback by the standards required of them in training.

A year on, the teenagers believe that they have improved tremendously and hope to add to the national women's football team, who face Macau in a friendly at the Jalan Besar Stadium on July 16.

Natasha, who joined the ESC LaLiga academy in Spain, was hit by fatigue after her maiden session.

"After my first training, I was really tired because the intensity was very high," the midfielder said. "It really affected me, I was like 'oh wow', the level's so different."

Chloe enrolled in the IMG Academy in the United States along with four other players, of which one Kyra Taylor - is also in the Lionesses' squad. Two others, Ardhra Ganeswaran and Irsalina Irwan, are out with injuries.