SINGAPORE -- Just three weeks after gaining citizenship, Kyoga Nakamura officially represented Singapore for the first time on Thursday.
The BG Tampines Rovers playmaker played the full 90 minutes in the Lions' 3-2 friendly win over Myanmar, a game in which the hosts were headed for a shock loss after relinquishing an early lead before two goals in the final six minutes secured a much-needed win -- a first since Tsutomu Ogura took charge back in February.
It was undeniably a happy occasion for Nakamura, who has been based in Singapore since 2019 and had previously expressed his desire to represent his now-adopted nation -- having previously featured for Japan at the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Nonetheless, for the 28-year-old, who has often been praised for his professionalism and consistency, the performance left him with mixed feelings even after a man of the match display on his first senior cap.
"I'm really happy to get this first game (for Singapore)," he said in the postgame news conference. "But we cannot be satisfied with this performance.
"Especially those first ten minutes of the second half (when Singapore conceded twice in quick succession)."
"We couldn't believe (how) we conceded those goals."
The Lions certainly looked in a comfortable position despite their slender lead, with Myanmar having posed little threat in the opening 45.
But with the visitors coming out of the break showing renewed vigour, Singapore failed to respond adequately and were sluggish in responding as the opposition starting making meaningful forays forward for the first time in the contest -- leading to goals by Ye Yint Aung and Thiha Zaw.
Being able to eventually wrest the lead back and claim the win would still have been a relief to Ogura, who would have been quietly desperate to get off the mark even if his reign has already produced some positives even without victory.
The addition of Nakamura will come as a huge boost ahead of the ASEAN Championship, which kicks off on Dec. 8, especially with the Lions likely to be without several key players given the tournament does not fall within a recognised FIFA international window -- meaning clubs are not obliged to release players for national team duty.
The majority of Singapore's foreign-based contingent ply their trade in the Thai League 1 and Malaysia Super League, whose clubs have fixtures scheduled during the course of the ASEAN Championship.
The Singapore Premier League, however, will be on hiatus -- meaning Nakamura will be able to play a significant role as the Lions look to make it out of the group stage for only the second time since they were last crowned champions of Southeast Asia in 2012.
On Thursday, Nakamura was deployed as the most advanced of Singapore's central midfield trio, although he was still required to perform his fair share of defensive duties when the opposition were in possession.
He could even have netted a debut goal but just missed out on a cross what was ultimately converted by Farhan Zulkifli for the hosts' opener in the fifth minute.
Echoing his new national team coach's sentiments, Nakamura identified several aspects which Singapore still needed to improve in ahead of the ASEAN Championship.
"As coach Ogura said, there will always be good and bad moments within the 90 minutes," he added.
"In the good moments, we had a lot of chances but didn't finish by scoring the goals. We should have scored maybe two or three more in the first half.
"Then, in the bad moments, we need to have more composure but also hunger and desire.
"We're playing for the national team - for the country. We have to play with more hunger and desire.
"We have to learn from this game."
Nakamura will get another chance to line up for Singapore on Monday when they host Chinese Taipei, which looms as their final warmup before their ASEAN Championship campaign begins next month with a Group A opener against Cambodia on Dec. 11.