AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Suwon(KOR) vs SAFFC

Last burst of fire for SAFFC

Tam Cheong Yan
info@sleague.com

Richard Bok has called on his SAFFC charges to keep their heads high as they close out their maiden AFC Champions League campaign against Suwon Samsung Bluewings on Tuesday evening.

The reigning S.League champions are already out of the running for a place in the knockout stages, having been anchored to the bottom of Group G.

But Bok has been pleased with the performances his players have given in all five of their previous matches in the group stage, having pushed their limits each time against Suwon, J-League champions Kashima Antlers and Chinese powerhouses Shanghai Shenhua.

And he is hoping for one last burst of fire from the Warriors at Suwon World Cup Stadium as they take their farewell bow.

“Every player’s raised his game in the ACL so far, so hopefully, they will do the same thing again this Tuesday,” he toldsleague.com ahead of his team’s departure for Korea.

“It’s our last ACL game – I hope we’ll have more next year – and we really want to give another good performance. We’ve given five good performances already, so why not the sixth?

“We are playing in another very, very tough match against Suwon. They have to win this game, and if I am not wrong, they have to score a good number of goals.

“So for me, the plan is to go there and do our best to frustrate them and hit them on the counter. I just want the boys to enjoy this experience of being in the ACL and give a good account of ourselves, like we did in the first five games.”

With nothing but pride to play for in their final game, most teams would have been forgiven for fielding a weakened side in a match of no consequence.

SAFFC have not chosen to embrace this approach, however, as Bok promised that he would continue to send out a strong team against Cha Bum-kun’s men.

Given the intense competition for places among the Warriors, that could still mean starts for the likes of Prime League boy Zulfadli Zainal Abidin and former Singapore international Razaleigh Khalik, who had featured prominently against Shanghai Shenhua.

Former Tampines Rovers trainee Zulfadli has in fact seen plenty of action for the Warriors this term, and he was among several players Bok had praised for their part in the 1-1 home draw with the Chinese side two weeks ago.

“In the last game, players like Zul and Razaleigh came in and did a good job,” remarked the 39-year-old.

“They kept that up when they went on to play in the S.League the following match, and even Syed Karim also had a good performance against Shanghai. So as to whether they’ll be involved against Suwon, we’ll see how it goes.

“Our hands are tied, though, in terms of reserves. We didn’t register that many youngsters, and players like Dharham (Aziz from the Prime League) are not travelling.

“But our main goal is to give a good account of ourselves, so we want to field a good team, even though qualification is no longer an issue for us.”

Apart from the Prime League boys, Thai midfield maestro Therdsak Chaiman was also omitted from the squad that flew to Korea on Saturday evening.

While the 35-year-old’s omission means the Warriors will be without their most recognizable player on the continent, Bok insisted the decision was for the good of the team in light of Therdsak’s heel fracture, which has caused problems lately.

“Therdsak’s carrying an injury, and even if he’s playing, he can’t give 100%,” he noted.

“I’d rather give a player who can give 100% the chance rather than force Therdsak to play. So we’ve agreed that he is not going to travel this time so that he can rest.

“Therdsak didn’t play against Shanghai either, although on that occasion I thought Shanghai were overconfident. But the ball is round; we may not have many attacking options, but we got one strike and scored one goal.

“Similarly, when we go to Korea, we want to play a soak-and-counter game. Who knows? If we’re lucky enough, we may get a point there.

“But knowing the Koreans, they have to win this game,” continued Bok.

“They’re languishing at the bottom of the table in the Korean league, and they have to get something out of this game to qualify for the next stage. Our task is to make things difficult for them.”

The Koreans’ task will be made that bit harder by the absence of their captain Kwak Hee Ju, who is suspended after picking up his second yellow card of the tournament in Kashima two weeks ago.

The defender was part of the team that had played against SAFFC at Jalan Besar, an encounter more remembered for Cha’s post-match remarks than for the relatively insipid performance a second-string Suwon side had put up on the field.

It was clearly a point Bok remembered well, as he spoke of his wish for Cha to show the current S.League leaders some respect when the two teams do battle again on Tuesday.

“Cha Bum-kun talked about the weather and the field when they played in Singapore,” he recalled.

“Well, they’ve got no excuses now! They’re playing in their own country, on their own field, so hopefully we can go there and still do the same things we did before.

“We’ve already done Cha and his team a big favour by holding Shanghai to a draw. So hopefully we’ll get a bit of respect from him when we go to face his team this time!”