Zikos Chua
Vasileios Zikos Chua Ming Xun (born 15 April 2002) is a Singaporean-Greek professional footballer who plays as a forward for Singapore Premier League club Geylang International.[1]
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Vasileios Zikos Chua Ming Xun | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 15 April 2002 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Kastoria, Greece | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Geylang International | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 20 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2017 | National Football Academy | ||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Geylang International | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018– | Geylang International | 21 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | → Young Lions (loan) | 23 | (9) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Singapore U14 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Singapore U16 | 10 | (8) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Singapore U19 | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019– | Singapore U23 | 11 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:14, 3 November 2019 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17:14, 3 November 2019 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Zikos holds the record of being the youngest player to score four goals in a single Singapore Premier League's match history at 20 years and 114 days.
Early life
Zikos was born in Greece to a Greek mother and a Chinese Singaporean father and grew up in Kastoria, Macedonia, Greece,[2] with his younger brother, before returning to Singapore when he was 10.[3] He was a student at Tanjong Katong Secondary School when he made his first bow as a professional footballer.[1][4]
Club career
Youth
Zikos started his career with the National Football Academy before he was signed by former Geylang International head coach Mohd Noor Ali for the club's Under-19 side in 2017. He has also represented Singapore at various levels and was nominated for The New Paper Dollah Kassim Award in 2017.
While playing for the National Football Academy, Zikos was also representing his school, Tanjong Katong Secondary School, in the National "C" Division, scoring 26 goals in 2016 to help his school win the title.[5] He was named in Goal Singapore's 2020 NxGn list following his sublime performances for Geylang International.[6]
Geylang International
On 4 July 2018, Zikos came on as a late substitute in Geylang International's 3–1 win over Young Lions at Jalan Besar Stadium for his professional debut at the age of 16, Zikos eclipsed the previous record set by Hariss Harun as the youngest ever debutant in the Singapore Premier League.[7][8] He was the youngest player to ever play in the country's top tier of soccer and is the third-youngest scorer in the history of Singapore's professional league.[9]
On 14 April 2019, Zikos became the third youngest scorer in Singapore Premier League history, at 16 years and 364 days, after Hariss Harun and Fareez Farhan.[10] He would than scored a brace in a 2–1 win over Warriors FC on 23 June 2019. Zikos kept his exploits by becoming the youngest player ever to reach the five-goal mark in league history, at 17 years and 102 days on 27 July 2019.[11] As of April 2020, Zikos has scored 5 goals in 13 matches for the Eagles.[6] His talent would not go un-noticed as he was picked up by J.League side Matsumoto Yamaga on a training stint.[12]
However Zikos would suffer an ACL injury in 2019, setting him back.[13]
Zikos would returned to Geylang International on 14 January 2024 after he completed his National Services. On 14 June 2024, he scored a brace in a 6–2 win over Hougang United.
Young Lions (loan)
In January 2022, Zikos joined Young Lions on loan while serving his compulsory National Services with the Singapore Armed Forces. He scored his first goal for the club on 19 March 2022 in a 4–3 lost against Balestier Khalsa. On 7 August 2022, Zikos scored a poker in a 4–2 win over Tanjong Pagar United which was also his first career hat-trick. However on 24 August 2022, he suffered a Cruciate ligament injury which ruled him out for a year.
On 29 July 2023, Zikos returned to action coming on as a substitution and scoring a goal in a 6–2 lost against Hougang United.
International career
Zikos was born in Greece to a Greek mother and a Chinese Singaporean father which make him eligible to represent Greece or Singapore at international level.
Youth
Zikos was first called up to the Singapore U22 in 2019 for the 2019 Merlion Cup. He made his debut for the team on 7 June 2019, in a 3–0 win against Philippines U23.[14]
On 31 July 2019, Singapore U18 head coach Fadzuhasny Juraimi named Zikos in the Singapore squad for 2019 AFF U18 Youth Championship.[15]
Personal life
Zikos younger brother, Christos Chua is also a professional footballer currently playing for Geylang International under-21 side while serving his National Services.
Career statistics
Club
- As of 14 June 2024[16]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Geylang International | 2018 | S.League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2019 | Singapore Premier League | 11 | 5 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 11 | 5 | ||
| 2020 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2021 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Total | 20 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 5 | ||
| Young Lions | 2022 | Singapore Premier League | 19 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 8 |
| 2023 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | ||
| Total | 23 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 9 | ||
| Geylang International | 2024–25 | Singapore Premier League | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Total | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | ||
| Career total | 42 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 14 | ||
U23 International caps
U19 International caps
| No | Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 August 2019 | Thanh Long Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam | Thailand | 1-1 (draw) | 2019 AFF U-18 Youth Championship |
U16 International caps
U16 International goals
| No | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 March 2017 | Po Kong Village Road Park, Hong Kong | Qatar | 1-0 | 3-0 (won) | 2017 Jockey Cup |
| 2 | 19 March 2017 | Po Kong Village Road Park, Hong Kong | Qatar | 3-0 | 3-0 (won) | 2017 Jockey Cup |
| 3 | 24 September 2017 | Wibawa Mukti Stadium, Indonesia | Guam | 5-0 | 8-1 (won) | 2018 AFC U-16 Championship qualification |
| 4 | 24 September 2017 | Wibawa Mukti Stadium, Indonesia | Guam | 8-1 | 9-1 (won) | 2018 AFC U-16 Championship qualification |
| 5 | 1 August 2018 | Gelora Joko Samudro Stadium, Indonesia | Laos | 1-2 | 1-2 (lost) | 2018 AFF U-16 Youth Championship |
| 6 | 3 August 2018 | Gelora Joko Samudro Stadium, Indonesia | Thailand | 1-2 | 1-3 (lost) | 2018 AFF U-16 Youth Championship |
| 7 | 7 August 2018 | Gelora Joko Samudro Stadium, Indonesia | Brunei | 1-0 | 5-0 (won) | 2018 AFF U-16 Youth Championship |
| 8 | 7 August 2018 | Gelora Joko Samudro Stadium, Indonesia | Brunei | 2-0 | 5-0 (won) | 2018 AFF U-16 Youth Championship |
Honours
References
- "Geylang teen Zikos Chua, 16, eclipses Hariss Harun as youngest ever debutant in Singapore Premier League". Football Association Singapore. 5 July 2018. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ""I Feel Greek, I Feel Singaporean" says 17-year-Old Soccer Wonder". www.greekreporter.com. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
- "Meet Zikos Chua: Singapore's very own Greek god in the making inspired by Cristiano Ronaldo". Goal.com.
- "Zikos Chua is the rare Chinese player Singapore football needs for the future". FOX Sports. 22 July 2018. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- hermes (4 September 2016). "New school football kingpins". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 30 December 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
- "From Ilhan Fandi to Farhan Zulkifli - Meet the future of Singapore". Goal.com.
- "Geylang teen Zikos Chua, 16, eclipses Hariss Harun as youngest ever debutant in Singapore Premier League - Football Association of Singapore". www.fas.org.sg. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
- "From Hariss Harun to Khairin Nadim - Meet Singapore Premier League's youngest debutants | Goal.com English Saudi Arabia". www.goal.com. 3 March 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
- ""I Feel Greek, I Feel Singaporean" says 17-year-Old Soccer Wonder (video)".
- "Singapore Premier League Week 6: Roundup - Football Association of Singapore". www.fas.org.sg. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
- "AIA Singapore Premier League". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
- Correspondent, David LeeSports (30 July 2019). "Football: Geylang International youngster Vasileios Zikos Chua earns training stint in Japan". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
- "Zikos Chua confirmed to have suffered an ACL injury".
- "Vasileios Zikos Chua, 17, included in Fandi Ahmad's Merlion Cup squad".
- "Fadzuhasny Juraimi names Singapore squad for AFF U18 Championship".
- Zikos Chua at Soccerway. Retrieved 15 April 2019.