Former Warriors relive Asian rendezvous with Suwon

Gary Koh
info@sleague.com

When SAFFC take on Korean champions Suwon Bluewings in their first home AFC Champions League (ACL) home game at Jalan Besar on Wednesday evening, two former Warriors, who are now part of the backroom staff, will relive their previous encounters with the opponents over a decade ago.

In November 1997, Hairi Su’ap and V. Selvaraj were part of the SAFFC team that took on the K-League side in the second round of the now-defunct Asian Cup-Winners’ Cup.

That year, the Warriors had a star-studded squad that boasted the likes of Fandi Ahmad, Nazri Nasir and Rezal Hassan in their ranks. They swept everything before them domestically and had little difficulty dispatching first-round opponents Instant Dict of Hong Kong in their first Asian adventure.

However, it was a very different story when the Bluewings came to town. They overcame the Singapore champions 2-0 at home, before dispatching them 6-0 to progress to the next round.

Even though the elimination concluded the Warriors’ season that year, Hairi, who was the skipper in 1997 and a central defender in their three-man backline then, relished every moment taking on the Koreans.

“The memory when I took on Suwon was as though we played them yesterday. The feeling of playing them home and away was simply indescribable,” gushed the man, now sports trainer for SAFFC.

“Unlike today where advancements were made in tactical knowledge and pre-match preparation, we did not know the Koreans then; they did not know us either.

“But their level of football was higher than us when we played against them in Jurong.

“They opened up our eyes with their level of skill, professionalism and tactical awareness.”

He gave an overall picture on how the Koreans overwhelmed SAFFC on the pitch then. “They allowed us to play the ball when we got the goal kick,” he recalled.

“But once the ball reached the midfield, it was another story as they showed their true stuff, showing their professionalism with their challenges for the ball.

“From where I was positioned on the pitch in defence, the way they started their attacks and their pace and movements were of a different standard, something I had never seen in my playing days before.”

Selavraj, who played as a forward then, concurred with his colleague’s sentiments and recalled the strong impression Suwon had left from the games then.

“While we had quality local players on our side then and showed teamwork, the Koreans were simply much better,” he noted.

“Playing Southeast Asian teams was one thing; it was a completely new experience playing against a club from one of the strongest Asian football nations.

“We had Rezal, Fandi and Nazri, but the Koreans are technically and tactically better than our strongest local players.

“Even their foreigners were also a class above our Croatian contingent.”

12 years on, the current Warriors team manager is helping head coach Richard Bok mastermind the Warriors’ ACL adventure behind the scenes and believes the class of 2009 are in a more fortunate position than in his time.

“From what I have seen, the Suwon Bluewings of present are a little better than their predecessors and we have quality players, especially in Therdsak Chaiman and Masahiro Fukasawa, who have played at this level before,” he said.

Both former Singapore internationals agreed that SAFFC have an excellent opportunity to learn even more from the cream of Asian club football than they did.

“Now the players are more fortunate as we are more tactically aware and have developed better preparation techniques,” acknowledged Hairi.

“Unlike previously where the competition was played in a knockout format and we only had two games against Suwon before going out, the ACL allows them to be exposed to such a high level at least six times.”

Selvaraj added: “Having played Shanghai away in the first game, the players know what it is like to play at the top of Asian football.

“As was the case back in 1997, they showed they were not afraid to compete with the giants and played according to instructions.

“Like them, we were able to match the Koreans in certain areas here and there when we played them.”

Hairi believes that the ACL experience would be a very positive experience to everyone, especially the juniors.

“Back in 1997, we had young talents such as Hafizat Jauharmi and Tan Kim Leng learning from our experience with Suwon then.

“Now it is very good for players like Guntur (Djafril) and Zulfadli (Zainal Abidin) to learn as much from this competition and prepare themselves them for similar-level tournaments later in their careers.

“After all, the ACL is the stage where everyone wants to pit themselves against the best the continent has to offer.”