2006 AFC Cup
After the packed
schedule of 2005 where matches came in fast and thick, 2006 looked in
comparison to be light with only the AFC Cup on the Asian radar despite some
complains from an Eastern–based team.
Even the second
edition of the FAM-FAS Champions Series – FAM-FAS League
Champions Cup and FAM-FAS Cup Champions Cup –
that was to have been staged in June was cancelled without a warning or
reason given and spaces can be found on the fixtures list so talk of an overpacked schedule for failure is fool talk.
That why 2006 can be looked back with a sense of what might have
been as both Tampines Rovers and Home United trip up.
When the 2006 AFC Cup draw was make back in December 2005, much
was expected of S-league Champions Tampines Rovers
and Singapore Cup Champions Home United as both had the squad and experience to
achieve much.
Unfortunately by the time the first match kicked off, it was a
different scenario for Home United as ravaged by injuries and the shockingly
departures of playmaker Gabor Boer, before the Hungarian even kicked a ball, and then fellow Hungarian
defender Checzy Zoltan and
Thai midfielder Anuruck Srikerd meant the Protectors were beyond strength.
Home United could not replace the departed foreigners with the
player registration closed thus leaving Thai international Sutee
Suksomkit as the only foreign player in Home United
squad.
The much weaken Home United fell to
As for two-time league Champions Tampines
Rovers, they also endure a disappointing start to the new campaign as they went
down 1-0 to Malaysia Treble Champions Selangor in KL,
like the previous year when they had also started on a losing note, but with an
established squad that had the experience and abilities, it looked a case of
when and not if the league champions would stage their fight back.
That was the case as in the second round of games; Tampines Rovers
destroy Hong Kong side
Home United also staged a comeback as they went to Hong Kong Mongkok Stadium to snatch back a valuable 0-1 win against
But in an indication of Home United yo-yo form this season, the
Protectors went down to
The Stags though was not in as charitable mood as the Protectors, dispatching
the Maldives side New Radiant 3-1 at home and 0-4 away and the fate of reaching
the knockout stage was in the League Champions own hands as they needed to
secure a win against Selangor in the next encounter
at the Tampines Stadium to reach the top.
A last-minute drama was played out as Singapore dissolve it
parliament and held an election and the Tampines
Stadium was allocated as a venue for a rally and the match against Selangor was to have been switched to Jalan
Besar Stadium, which had an artificial pitch that the
Stags were not comfortable playing on.
Tampines
Rovers appeal and PAP, the party that booked the venue for that day, agreed to
give up it slot for the game.
The effort spend to secure Tampines
Stadium was not wasted as Tampines Rovers
replaced Selangor at the top of Group after they
overcame the Malaysian side 3-2 at Tampines Stadium.
Stags
striker Mirko Grabovac’s
strike on the hour – the team’s third goal – proved the difference after Peres
de Oliveira’s double was cancelled out by a brace from Bambang
Pamungkas. The result nullified Selangor’s
1-0 victory over Tampines earlier in the competition,
sending the S-League defending champions right to the top based on overall goal
difference.
This
leaves them just one win away from reaching the quarterfinals, which can be
clinched if they beat Hong Kong side
Peres
De Oliveira was influential in the outcome as the Brazilian broke the deadlock
after latching on to a long punt from Rezal Hassan and prodding the ball home off Azlisham
Ib Berahim’s trailing leg
to give Stags a first half lead. Even before Selangor
could settle down properly for the second, they found themselves another goal
behind six minutes after the break. Aliff did just
enough in the middle of the park to push a pass towards Alam
Shah at left wing before he was brought down by a Selangor
defender, but with the momentum clearly building up, Alam
Shah opted to play on and charge towards the touchline. The national striker
then floated a perfect cross towards an unmarked Oliveira, who headed the ball
straight into the back of the net with the entire Selangor
defence caught out of position.
Needing
at least a draw to secure qualification for the quarterfinals, Dollah went for a double substitution that led to a change
of luck for Selangor. Brian Fuentes delivered a neat
cross in the on the hour mark after being given generous space on the right
flank, and lurking in the box was Bambang, who struck
a crisp volley straight into the bottom corner of the net to make it 1-2.
But Grabovac restored the hosts’ two-goal cushion just three
minutes later, latching on to Oliveira’s right-sided cross before unleashing a
powerful shot to beat Azlisham.
Driven
to desperation, Dollah made one final gamble with his
remaining swap. On came Elie Aiboy
to provide new creative inspiration, and he wasted little time to do his job.
An 82nd-minute cross on the right was just high enough to beat the entire Stags
defence, leaving Bambang
with a clear header from the far post to double his personal tally.
A tense
finish then ensued as Selangor kept throwing men
forward in search of their late leveller, but Tampines Rovers managed to hold on and looked set to finish
top and secure a quarter-final slot.
That
was what Tampines Rovers did in the next match as
they destroyed
For
Home United, it was a different story as one disaster lead to another as they
went down to Perlis 0-1 away to end their outside
chance of winning top spot or even a best runner-up slot and it was miserable
month of May as they were also knocked out of the Singapore Cup and fading away
in the S-league.
It was
no surprise Home United could not muster the strength to even win their final
group game as the Protectors went down 0-2 to a highly-motivated Sun Hei who were aiming for a
quarter-final slot.
The
road for Tampines Rovers did not last much longer as
they encounter Jordan League Champions Al Wihdat in the quarter-final and despite
reinforcements with quality players like Aide Iskandar
and Ahamd Latiff during the
transfer window, the Jordan side was clearly a class above with a 5-0 overall
win against the Stags.
Western Asian clubs is proving
a tougher nut to crack and talk about a packed schedule being too big a
disadvantage by Tampines Rovers is a smokescreen but
there is no way to close gap on Western Asia other than to continue playing
them and not avoiding them.
The road next year and even
the many years after that will always be blocked by Western Asian clubs and
S-league must be ready to face this test to improve on the Asian stage.
AFC Cup 2006 – Tampines
Rovers
|
Stage |
Home
Team |
|
|
Away
Team |
Date |
|
Group |
Selangor ( |
1 |
0 |
Tampines Rovers |
17/3/2006 |
|
Group |
Tampines Rovers |
3 |
1 |
Happy Valley (HK) |
21/3/2006 |
|
Group |
Tampines Rovers |
3 |
1 |
Hurriya ( |
11/4/2006 |
|
Group |
Hurriya ( |
0 |
4 |
Tampines Rovers |
25/4/2006 |
|
Group |
Tampines Rovers |
3 |
2 |
Selangor ( |
2/5/2006 |
|
Group |
Happy Valley (HK) |
0 |
4 |
Tampines Rovers |
16/5/2006 |
|
Quarter-final,
first leg |
Tampines Rovers |
0 |
1 |
Al Wihdat ( |
12/9/2006 |
|
Quarter-final,
second leg |
Al Wihdat ( |
4 |
0 |
Tampines Rovers |
19/9/2006 |
Tampines Rovers Scorers
|
6 goals |
Noh Alam
Shah |
|
3 goals |
Aliff Shafaein, Peres De Oliviera |
|
2 goals |
Rafi Ali, Mirko Grabovac |
|
1 goals |
Ibrahim Noh |
AFC Cup 2006 – Home United
|
Stage |
Home
Team |
|
|
Away
Team |
Date |
|
Group |
Home
United |
2 |
3 |
Perlis ( |
7/3/2006 |
|
Group |
Sun
Hei (HK) |
0 |
1 |
Home
United |
21/3/2006 |
|
Group |
New
Radiant ( |
5 |
3 |
Home
United |
11/4/2006 |
|
Group |
Home
United |
2 |
0 |
New
Radiant ( |
25/4/2006 |
|
Group |
Perlis ( |
1 |
0 |
Home
United |
2/5/2006 |
|
Group |
Home
United |
0 |
2 |
Sun
Hei (HK) |
16/5/2006 |
Home
United Scorers
|
4 goals |
Egmar Gonclaves |
|
3 goals |
Indra Sahdan |
|
1 goals |
Rosman Sulaiman |