| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nathan Mao Zhi Xuan | ||
| Date of birth | 26 March 2008 | ||
| Place of birth | Singapore | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Lion City Sailors | ||
| Number | 80 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2020–2023 | Lion City Sailors | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2023– | Lion City Sailors | 3 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2023–2024 | Singapore U16 | 2 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 9 April 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 9 April 2025 | |||
Nathan Mao Zhi Xuan (born 26 March 2008) is a Singaporean professional footballer who plays as a forward for Singapore Premier League club Lion City Sailors.
Nathan currently holds the record of being the youngest player to play in the Singapore Premier League at 15 years and 5 days in the match against Tampines Rovers.
Nathan started playing football at the age of four. He attended Zhonghua Secondary School. Nathan enlisted for his mandatory national service on 3 April 2025, aged 17.
As a youth product, Nathan joined the academy of Lion City Sailors in 2020, when he was eight. [1]
In November 2021, while he was in the LCS Academy U14 Elite squad, Nathan was sent abroad for a six-week European training camp in Germany and Netherlands. [2]
Nathan was sent overseas again from 29 October to 14 November 2022 to embark on a 16-day training stint at the Feyenoord Academy when he was in the U17 Elite squad. [3]
Nathan made history on 31 March 2023 when he was introduced as a substitute against Tampines Rovers, becoming the Singapore Premier League's youngest-ever debutant at just 15 years and 5 days old. [4] Nathan was first involved in the continental stage when he was part of Lion City Sailors' squad in the 2023–24 AFC Champions League campaign. He made into head coach Aleksandar Ranković's matchday 1 squad in the 2–1 defeat to Bangkok United. He became the youngest player to be named in an AFC Champions League Elite matchday squad since 2012 at 15 years and 178 days old, surpassing Suphanat Mueanta's 15 years and 203 days record. [5] [6]
On 16 September 2023, Nathan assisted Haiqal Pashia in the stoppage time to secure a 3–1 league win over Geylang International.
Nathan was called up to the Singapore U16 squad for the 2024 ASEAN U-16 Boys Championship held in Indonesia. Nathan helped the National Development Centre (NDU) U15 to achieve runners-up at the 2023 Lion City Cup. [7] [8] [9]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Lion City Sailors | 2023 | Singapore Premier League | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| 2024–25 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 11 | 0 | |||
| Total | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | ||
Lion City Sailors