Preview: SAFFC vs Tampines Rovers

Confidence high as Warriors and Tampines meet

Tam Cheong Yan
info@sleague.com

Nothing holds more promise in football than two big teams riding on a wave of confidence, and that is exactly what fans will get at Choa Chu Kang Stadium this Saturday evening as SAFFC host Tampines Rovers.

Both teams head into this clash with the feel-good factor on their side, although Tampines progressing into the RHB Singapore Cup quarterfinals might not have grabbed headlines the way the Warriors’ AFC Champions League match on Tuesday would have.

They made history in that match, clinching their first ever point in the Champions League group stage with a 1-1 draw with Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua.

Putting on an impressive performance that saw them hold the lead for two-thirds of the match, they were only denied full points in injury time when Shahril Jantan was denied a well-deserved clean sheet by Hernan Barcos.

Nonetheless, anyone who had witnessed how the Warriors bench celebrated their point would have no difficulty detecting the huge impact that draw will have on the side.

And SAFFC coach Richard Bok has called on his charges to tap into that new surge in confidence, and translate the energy in their continental games back to the S.League.

“I’m still feeling good from that result, and I think the boys too,” he told sleague.com before training on Thursday.

“It was a morale-boosting performance in the ACL, and they have taken things very positively. Hopefully we can continue in the same way, showing the character, determination and fighting spirit. I want us to channel that into the S.League matches.

“The Shanghai game asked a lot of us, but we’ve still got another two days before the match. The boys had their day off yesterday, and later we’ll be doing recovery work more than anything else.

“There’s still one more day after that for us to prepare for the Tampines game itself. 48 hours should be enough time for us to recover.”

The result was even more remarkable for SAFFC considering that they had achieved it without a number of their regular starters, notably the suspended John Wilkinson and midfield maestro Therdsak Chaiman, who was brought on for a cameo in injury time.

In their absence, fringe players such as Syed Karim and Zulfadli Zainal Abidin came to the fore, staking a strong case for their extended involvement in the Warriors’ pursuit for glory in the league.

While Bok had originally noted before the Shanghai clash that he had thoughts of saving some of his more important assets for the meeting with Tampines, there were hints that he could yet change his mind in the face of the understudies’ impressive work.

“Put it this way, there will be minimal changes compared to the game on Tuesday,” he said.

“It’s possible Therdsak will get a break, for example. I mean, the team did very well, so why dismantle a working setup at this point?

“There might be one or two changes, but it will be very minimal.”

Whoever the Warriors coach picks to line up in his midfield, he would be relieved not to need to think about getting past defensive lynchpin Fahrudin Mustafic, who is suspended after collecting his fourth yellow card of the season.

But while the Singapore international will not be able to contribute directly to the Stags’ cause, he has already done much to put his teammates in a positive frame of mind for the match.

It was he who scored the all-important goal for Tampines as they successfully negotiated a tricky Cup tie with Sengkang Punggol last Sunday, setting them up for a quarterfinals clash with Albirex Niigata FC (Singapore).

While the result has put the three-time Cup winners in buoyant mood, the 28-year-old has warned that his teammates have already moved on to the next task at hand as they plot to wrest the S.League title away from the defending champions’ hands.

“I think we have already forgotten the Sengkang game the day after we won it,” said Mustafic.

“The Singapore Cup quarterfinals is months away, and we’ve gone back to looking at the league now. We are three points behind SAFFC, and if we beat them, we will catch up with them and stay close with DPMM.

“We all know what our target is. Tampines is a top club that is always going for trophies, and this is the same case today.

“We may be in the Singapore Cup quarterfinals, but we are also aiming for the league. We’re going to Choa Chu Kang and it will be a big game, so we’ll see how far we’ll go.”

The SAFFC-Tampines clash is just the first act in a mouth-watering S.League doublebill this weekend, with traditional powerhouses Home United locking horns with DPMM FC at Clementi on Sunday.

The Bruneian side’s meteoric rise up the league table has been intriguing for many observers, who will be tracking their clash with the Protectors with interest.

Like many of them, Bok is quietly hoping that Home can hold DPMM down and keep the title race open.

However, the 39-year-old also cautioned that holding out for the prospect of the Wasps getting cut down to size would only be worth it if the Warriors step up their efforts to collect points themselves.

“DPMM will be missing four key players, and lots of people will hope Home can do something for all of us,” he noted.

“But we also have to do our part of the job. Home winning on Sunday wouldn’t mean anything if we drop points ourselves.

“For us, every game in the league is important now. This is our last game of the first round, and from now on, we need to pick up all the points we can possibly pick up.

“We just have to take it one match at a time. For now it’s the Tampines game, and we’ll take it from there.”