Gary Koh
info@sleague.com
Singapore Armed Forces (SAFFC) will create history at Shanghai Hongkou Stadium on Wednesday as they become the first Singapore club to participate in the top-tier AFC Champions League in their opening Group G clash with Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua.
The Warriors qualified for the first round proper after overcoming Southeast Asian sides after extra time in their two play-off matches.
They enter the match as “under-underdogs”, as coach Richard Bok put it, who is under no illusion the massive task his side face against the Chinese Super League runners-up.
“Now that we are finally in the ACL, we have to step up our game by another level if we are to make an impression in the group,” he remarked.
“It will be a steep learning curve from us as the other teams are definitely much better than us.”
Prior to their ACL adventure, SAFFC have begun their domestic league title defence with three wins in as many matches and are presently leading the standings with a superior goal difference.
Apart from long-term injury casualty Faizal Aziz (back), Bok has otherwise a full first-team squad to choose from.
Turning his attention to their opponents, Bok acknowledges the need to push up their game level if they are to be rewarded in Shanghai.
“Shenhua are generally a short-passing team who like to build up from the back, although they have other varieties of styles,” he noted.
“We have to play a compact game as much as possible and try not to commit silly mistakes during the match.”
This will be Shenhua’s third appearance in the competition after the 2003 and 2006 seasons.
Coached by Jia Xiuquan, they boast several Chinese and overseas internationals in their ranks.
Shenhua generally play a 4-3-2-1 formation with the general emphasis of building up from defence with their short-passing game.
Zhang Chen is likely to get the nod between the posts with captain Du Wei partnering Bulgarian centre-back Yanko Valkanov at the heart of the defence, with Sun Ji and Cheng Liang marshalling the flanks.
Australian Mark Milligan will be relied upon to stem any rare SAFFC forays in his defensive midfield role.
Chinese internationals Chen Tao, Yu Tao and Mao Jianqing, Belarussian attacking midfielder Vyacheslav Hleb, the younger brother of Barcelona playmaker Alexander, and Argentinean forward Hernan Barcos will provide the attacking spark.
However the latter is racing against time to be fit for the ACL opener after sustaining a leg injury that saw him sit out in Shenhua’s 4-2 friendly win over second division Nanchang Bayi last Thursday.
Should he fail to recover in time, either Hleb or Chen, who scored all four goals in Shenhua’s final warm-up game, will spearhead the attack in his absence.
Bok is likely to respond with former Thai international Therdsak Chaiman forming the main heartbeat in their 4-5-1 formation.
Goalkeeper Shahril Jantan is going to be the busiest man on the pitch as he attempts to shut out Shenhua’s shots.
The back four of Japanese centre-back Kenji Arai, Daniel Bennett, Shaiful Esah and Hafiz Osman will also be kept busy keeping the opposing attackers at bay.
They will likely be assisted by defensive midfielders John Wilkinson and Masahiro Fukasawa in defusing everything the Chinese club will throw at them.
Wingers Park Tae Won and Ahmad Latiff Khamaruddin, plus lone forward Aleksandar Duric, have to make use of what little they have in their possession and make them count in their attacks.
While the ACL will be new territory for many Warriors, Therdsak returns to the stage where he made his mark in Asian football in the inaugural edition in 2003.
Shenhua were among his victims as he scored the goal that knocked the home side out of the competition en route to the final with his former club BEC Tero Sasana that season.
He vividly recalled that moment: “From midfield, I went past two defenders before cutting in just outside the box and saw my shot going into the top corner of the net.”
With the pleasant memories still fresh in his head, the former Thai international is looking forward to silencing the most well-supported Chinese crowd again on Wednesday.
He declared: “Whether the team we are facing is very strong or otherwise, we want to do something and get a result in China.”
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