SINGAPORE – Having regained her scoring form recently, the Lionesses’ leading scorer Danelle Tan hopes to continue banging in the goals to help them do well at the upcoming SEA Games and also propel her Japanese club Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza to some silverware this season.
The 21-year-old attacker opened her account with Beleza on Nov 12, when she scored in the 1-0 win over Myanmar’s ISPE in an AFC Women’s Champions League group game in Yangon as they reached the quarter-finals.
One week later, she registered the last goal in a 6-0 win over Yokohama FC Seagulls in the Empress’ Cup round of 32.
Prior to bagging a brace in Singapore’s 7-0 friendly win over the Seychelles at Bukit Gombak Stadium on Nov 28, Tan told The Straits Times: “It was such a joy to score my first goal for the club. As soon as the ball hit the net, I was jumping and hugging the rest of my teammates.
“As strikers, you always want to be scoring goals and helping your team win. So, it was nice to be able to finally get on the score sheet and it was even more special that it ended up being the winner in the Champions League.
“I’m still young and have a long way to go. I’m taking one step at a time and for now I just want to do my best at Beleza, learn and help my team as much as possible. Hopefully by the end of the season, we can win some silverware.”
Despite her tender age, Tan is one of Singapore’s most high-profile female footballers.
In February 2023, she became the
first female Singaporean to play in a European football league
when she came on as a half-time substitute for London Bees in their 2-1 defeat by Plymouth Argyle in the amateur FA Women’s National League South, the third tier of the women’s football pyramid in England.
In July 2023, she joined Germany’s Borussia Dortmund and helped them win the fifth-tier Landesliga title in April 2024 to gain promotion to the fourth-tier Westfalenliga. She featured in 15 out of 18 matches and contributed 13 goals as Dortmund won the league with five games to spare, making her the first Singaporean footballer to win a league title in Europe.
In August 2024, Tan moved to A-League Women side Brisbane Roar, for whom she made just three league appearances after undergoing knee surgery last November. She
left the club in May after her contract expired
and signed a one-year deal with 17-time Japanese champions Beleza in July.
While Tan is enjoying life in Tokyo and is grateful for the local fans who have even created a personalised banner referencing her Christian faith, she initially struggled with the Japanese language.
She said: “The environment in the club is extremely professional from the infrastructure to the players and how they carry themselves. I’ve been learning a lot in the five months I’ve been there.
“The Japanese language is very different from English, so it was harder for me to pick up than German. But my teammates have all been super helpful. My good friend Shino Matsuda is one of them, and she speaks English well so she helps me with understanding drills and what’s happening in training.”
On her part, Tan has also been taking online language classes a few times every week and self-deprecatingly shared that her teacher politely noted a month ago that her Japanese is at a “four-year-old level”.
“No mercy, so I still have a long way to go, but at least I can understand what’s going on on the field a bit better now,” she said.
She will have more of a sense of familiarity when she links up with her national teammates ahead of the Dec 4-17 SEA Games women’s football tournament. Drawn in Group A, the world No. 149 Lionesses will face hosts Thailand (53rd) and Indonesia (106th) in Chonburi, with the top two moving into the semi-finals.
After getting permission to leave her club outside the Fifa international window, missing one cup game in the process, Tan, who has nine goals in 24 international appearances, said: “The SEA Games always feels like a different tournament. With all the other athletes and sports that are also competing, it does feel like you’re a part of something bigger.
“My first SEA Games in 2022 was a historic one with us winning our first SEA Games match since 1985. It was also the first time Singapore sent a women’s team to the Games since 2003.
“We know the level of our group is high, especially with Thailand, who are ranked 96 spots higher than us. We will go into the tournament with respect for our opponents but also a desire and hunger to compete and challenge.”
Other than Tan, other overseas-based players in Lionesses coach Karim Bencherifa’s squad are midfielder Venetia Lim, who plays for Eltham Redbacks in Australia’s second-tier Victoria Premier League Women, and 16-year-old goalkeeper Chantale Lamasan and defender Seri Nur Insyirah, who are Unleash The Roar! scholarship holders training in the United States.
Although his team had lost all their games in 2025 before the Seychelles friendlies, which included a closed-door session, he said: “We have a strong squad with real potential and we want to perform.
“These SEA Games are also an opportunity to improve on recent results and give our younger players a chance to grow on a big stage – all while working towards the long-term objective of the 2029 SEA Games in Singapore.”
“We are building for today and we are also building for tomorrow,” he added.
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