Mohammad Shahril bin Ishak (born 23 January 1984) is a Singaporean former professional footballer who played as a midfielder or forward. A former captain of the Singapore national team, he had led the country to win three titles in the AFF Championship in 2004, 2007, 2012.
Shahril was also named the Most Valuable Player during the 2012 AFF Championship and the AFF Player of the Year award in 2013. He was also included in the ASEAN Football Federation Best XI in 2013. He was also S.League's Player of the Year in 2010 and was included in the 2018 Singapore Premier League's Team of the Year.
Club career Along with Baihakki Khaizan, Hassan Sunny and Khairul Amri, Shahril was in the pioneer batch of the National Football Academy in 2000.
Young Lions Shahril joined the newly created Young Lions ahead of the 2003 S.League season and soon made his international debut. After four seasons, Shahril left the Young Lions in 2007 to join Home United.
Home United Shahril made his Home United debut in at the start of the 2007 season. He played his final game for Home United on 21 September 2010, scoring two crucial goals against title rivals Tampines Rovers. He then left for Indonesia with five games remaining in the S.League season. He finished his last season in Home United with 17 goals to his name and was the third highest scorer during the 2010 S.League season. He also won the 2010 S.League Player of the Year award.
Persib Bandung In 2010, Shahril signed a 1-year contract with Indonesian side, Persib Bandung, along with his fellow Singapore national football team player, Baihakki Khaizan.
Medan Chiefs In February 2011, Shahril signed a one-year deal worth $400,000 with Liga Primer Indonesia side, Medan Chiefs. He then went on to score 8 league goals in 32 matches for Medan Chiefs.
LionsXII Shahril returned to Singapore with newly formed club side LionsXII in December 2011. During his stint at LionsXII, he won the 2013 Malaysia Super League title in his second season as well as scoring 17 goals in 34 appearances, finishing as the club top scorer in the 2013 season.
Johor Darul Ta'zim II
Shahril signed a 4-year contract at the end of the 2013 Malaysia Super League by joining Malaysia Premier League club, Johor Darul Ta'zim II. He was given the number 17 shirt upon his arrival to the club. He was appointed as the captain for his new club in the 2014 Malaysia Premier League. He was converted back to a centre midfielder/play-maker role and led his new club to a 5th placing position, finishing the season with 7 goals and 8 assists for his new team. He led Johor Darul Ta'zim II for the 2015 Malaysia Premier League as the captain again, and led his club to a 5th placing position again, finishing the season with 5 goals and 6 assists. In total, Shahril scored 23 goals in 75 appearances for JDT II between 2014 and 2016.
Warriors FC Sharil returned to Singapore to play in the S.League with Warriors FC for the 2017 S.League campaign together with Baihakki Khaizan. He scored his first goal for the club in a 4–3 win over the Garena Young Lions and notched his first brace for the club in a 2–2 draw with Home United, scoring both goals in the final 9 minutes of the match, extending the Warriors' unbeaten run at the start of the season to 6 games. He scored a further two goals in the Warriors' tenth league game of the season, sealing a 2–0 win over Geylang International to end a wretched two months spell for his club, where they only won once and was dumped out of the Singapore Cup. Shahril had a great season despite his advancing years, scoring 1/3 of his team's goals (11) and playing in all 24 league games, starting 23 of them.
Return to Home United Sharil returned to Home United for the inaugural 2018 Singapore Premier League season, replacing Khairul Nizam who had moved in the other direction to Warriors FC. In 2020, Shahril scored appeared nine times and scored three in all club competitions.
Hougang United After 4 season with his previous club, Sharil joined Hougang United in January 2021. He helped them win the 2022 Singapore Cup, their first ever piece of silverware in the club history.
On 21 February 2023, Sharil announced his retirement from football at age of 39.
Managerial career Sharil became the assistant coach of Singapore Premier League club Lion City Sailors.
International career Singapore's most natural creative midfielder to emerge in recent years, Shahril made his international debut at 19 years old against Maldives on 4 March 2003.
With winger Ridhuan Muhammad, defender Baihakki Khaizan and keeper Hassan Sunny, he was part of the "NFA Gang of Four", the quartet which had played together since their early teenage years and earned senior international honours in 2003.
He has been employed in various positions across the midfield by coach Radojko Avramović, but Shahril staked a strong claim for an influential central role with a series of convincing performances there in the second half of 2004.
On 28 January 2004, Shahril scored his first international goal against Norway in a friendly match which resulted in a 2-5 loss.
He played a major role in the victory in the 2004 AFF Championship and also the 2007 AFF Championship, He was also part of the 2005 SEA Games squad and the 2006 Asian Games.He was part of the Singapore Under-23 team that took part in the 2007 Southeast Asian Games in Korat, Thailand that won a bronze medal.
Capped for Singapore at senior, U23, U18 and U16 levels.
In August 2010 Shahril was revealed as the new captain of the national team, and led the Lions for the AFF Suzuki Cup in December.
On 24 February 2011, Shahrill Ishak converted a penalty into a goal in a 2–2 draw against Azerbaijan national football team.
Shahril is an inductee of the FIFA Century Club.
As captain, he was instrumental in Singapore's 2012 AFF Championship win, scoring 4 goals in 7 appearances to help the Lions win their 4th title.
Singapore selection Shahril was selected as part of the Singapore Selection squad for The Sultan of Selangor's Cup to be held on 6 May 2017.
Personal life Shahril is the founder of inlovebytns, a clothing brand jointly managed with his wife, Nur Hidayah, that was started in late 2014. The business began in 2013 as a streetwear label called The Number Seventeen – a reference to Shahril's jersey number and TNS for short. All TNS apparel are designed by Shahril.
Career statistics Club . Caps and goals may not be correct.
ClubSeasonS.LeagueSingapore CupSingaporeLeague CupAsiaTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsYoung Lions2003????----—????2004????----—????2005????----—????2006????----—????Total1012000000010120Home United2007????----—????2008??8----—??82009230----—2302010291710--—3017Total98421000009942ClubSeasonIndonesia Super LeagueIndonesia FA CupIndonesia League CupAsiaTotalPersib Bandung2010–2011110----—110Total110000000110Medan Chiefs2011–2012328----—328Total328000000328ClubSeasonMalaysiaSuper LeagueMalaysiaFA CupMalaysia CupAsiaTotalLionsXII2012191031103—321420132181061—289Total401841164006023 Johor Darul Ta'zim II2014????????????—????2015????????????—????2016????????????—????Total75230000007523 ClubSeasonS.LeagueSingapore CupSingaporeLeague CupAsiaTotalWarriors201724101044002914Total24101044002914 Home United20182313520012540192019167100030207Total392062001556026Lion City Sailors20209300000093Total9300000093Hougang United2021800000008020220000000000Total8000000080Career total437145113164155479167 Young Lions and LionsXII are ineligible for qualification to AFC competitions in their respective leagues.
International Scores and results list Singapore's goal tally first. + List of international goals scored by Shahril Ishak No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition1 28 January 2004 National Stadium, Kallang, Singapore 2–2 2–5 Friendly2 29 December 2004 KLFA Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 4–2 4–3 2004 AFF Championship3 11 October 2005 Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia 1–0 2–0 Friendly4 2–05 15 January 2007 National Stadium, Kallang, Singapore 4–0 11–0 2007 AFF Championship6 24 February 2012 The Sevens, Dubai, United Arab Emirates 1–2 2–2 Friendly7 19 November 2012 Jurong West Stadium, Jurong, Singapore 3–0 4–0 Friendly8 25 November 2012 Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1–0 3–0 2012 AFF Championship9 2–010 1 December 2012 Shah Alam Stadium, Selangor, Malaysia 1–2 4–3 2012 AFF Championship11 2–212 5 March 2014 Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, Muscat, Oman 1–3 1–3 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification13 10 October 2014 Mong Kok Stadium, Mong Kok, Hong Kong 1–2 1–2 Friendly14 17 November 2014 Yishun Stadium, Yishun, Singapore 3–2 4–2 Friendly15 24 March 2016 Jalan Besar Stadium, Kallang, Singapore 1–0 2–1 Friendly
Honours
Club LionsXII Malaysia Super League: 2013
Hougang United Singapore Cup: 2022
International Singapore AFF Championship: 2004, 2007, 2012 Southeast Asian Games bronze medal: 2007
Individual S.League Player of the Year: 2010 Tiger Beer Goal of the Year: 2010 (40', Home United vs SAFFC on 16 July) AFF Championship Most Valuable Player: 2012 AFF Player of the Year (Men): 2013 ASEAN Football Federation Best XI: 2013 ASEAN All-Stars: 2014 Singapore Premier League 'Team of the Year': 2018
See also List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps
References
Notes
International caps milestones 115th – Syria, 15 November 2013 117th – Oman, 5 March 2014
External links