Confident Koreans ready for Stags

Syahrom Sulaiman
info@sleague.com

Matches that involve Tampines Rovers and the Super Reds were usually highly entertaining affairs last season, and it seems that the trend will still continue this Friday when the Stags and the Bears square off at Jalan Besar Stadium.

Despite retaining only a handful of players from last season’s squad, the Koreans are still a force to be reckoned with.

Picking up their first three points of the season when they defeated Sengkang Punggol 3-2 recently would have done wonders to a newly-formed side that is in need of confidence at the moment.

The Super Reds have yet to display the kind of aggressive, attacking display that was their hallmark last season, but if the performance against the Dolphins is anything to go by, coach Jeon Kyeong Joon must at least be satisfied that his side’s progress is going in the right direction.

Jeon would probably depend on the midfield duo of Park Han Seok and Kim Yoon Sik to spearhead the Bears’ attacks this Friday.

Tampines Rovers team manager Syed Faruk is wary of the threat posed by the Koreans when Park and Kim are on song.

He pointed out, “There are definitely some concerns when we face them but we have analyzed them in great detail and I feel that we are fully prepared this Friday.

“But I will have to admit that they are still a great side and even with our preparations, it is going to be tough for us.”

The Stags’ preparations could never have been better. There are no major injuries in the side and they dominated a suspect Geylang United side in last week’s 2-0 victory.

Faruk commented, “That was the best game so far that we played this season, in terms of the performance of every player. Everyone followed the coach’s instructions and the execution was perfect on the pitch.”

Goals from Noh Alam Shah and Qiu Li settled the contest against the Eagles, but it is not only the duo that the Stags have to depend on for goals.

The side is literally packed with potential match-winners. Sutee Suksomkit may be the club’s current leading goal scorer with three goals but Akihiro Nakamura, Aliff Shafaein and even the defensive-minded Fahrudin Mustafic are also capable of contributing crucial goals.

Therefore if both sides decide to throw caution to the wind and start attacking right from the first minute, the fans will definitely be in for a treat this Friday.