2007 AFC Cup
The 2007 edition
of the AFC Cup saw SAFFC making it first entry in the competition as since it
inception in 2004, the Warriors have not make it into
Now after a four-year
absence, the five-time S-league champions are confident of whitewashing their
past Asian failures as one has to go back to 1999 to find their last victory in
Asia and it was against Cambodian Champions Royal Dolphins.
And not
surprising for the Warriors had displaced an attractive brand of attacking
football for the past two seasons and added steel into the ranks last season to
win the championship although among the biggest factor is the Warriors have
kept the core of the team intact coming into 2007.
However on
opening day, the Warriors extended their winless streak to 10 games – 3 draw
and 7 losses – going down 0-2 to India Champions Mahindra United at their Choa Chu Kang
Fortress and now the fear the Warriors may yet fail once again start to
surface.
Over at
The Stags, who had
lost their hold of the S-league crown last season, had strengthen themselves
over the close season bringing in Shariff Abdul Samat, Ridhuan Muhammad
and Sutee Suksomkit; helping to lower their squad average age slightly as well.
With their core
side having played in the last two editions of the AFC Cup, the Stags looked
too strong for any sides from the Eastern region and it will be a case of when
they can reach the knockout stage and not if .
The Stags proved
that quickly enough dispatching their opponents in their group in the next four
games – Thai side Osotspa M-150 2-1 at home, Pahang 4-0 away and 2-0 at home and
finally Mohun Bagan
2-0 – to top their group with a game to spare which they will dispatch a youth
team to play to gain experience.
The Warriors,
taking the cue from the Stags, staged their comeback as they won their next five
matches –
Now then was the
test as the West Asian teams will be awaiting the S-league teams in the draw
and both the Warriors and the Stags drew Jordanian sides – the strongest West
Asian teams in the AFC Cup competition.
And what await
was a similar storyline as in the first leg the Warriors was destroyed 0-5 by Shabab Al Ordun
away while the Stags fell 1-2 to Al Faisaly at home.
It
looked over for the Warriors while for the Stags it is an uphill battle as they
will have to overcome a first leg deficit in their opponents home ground and it
is no mean feat as the Stags was still battling on all three fronts – S-league,
AFC Cup and Singapore Cup.
Still the second
leg was slightly sweeter, even if still bitter, with both teams knock out of
the competition, as the Warriors achieved a first ever win over a Jordanian
team winning 3-0 and the scoreline would have been even closer if Duric had not
missed a penalty kick in the first half while the Stags had taken a 2-0 lead
before giving it up to lose 2-5 at Al Faisaly home ground.
At this point,
it is clear S-league teams have no rivals in the East among the second tier
leagues but the West second tier league are no pushovers and they will be a
stumbling block the S-league teams will have to clear to reach the next level
and the S-league teams must find a solution to it as they aim to get further
ahead.
AFC Cup 2007 – SAFFC
|
Stage |
Home
Team |
|
|
Away
Team |
Date |
|
Group |
SAFFC |
0 |
2 |
Mahindra United ( |
6/3/2007 |
|
Group |
Happy Valley (HK) |
1 |
4 |
SAFFC |
20/3/2007 |
|
Group |
SAFFC |
3 |
1 |
New Radiant ( |
10/4/2007 |
|
Group |
New Radiant ( |
2 |
3 |
SAFFC |
24/4/2007 |
|
Group |
Mahindra United ( |
0 |
1 |
SAFFC |
8/5/2007 |
|
Group |
SAFFC |
2 |
1 |
Happy Valley (HK) |
22/5/2007 |
|
Quarter-final,
first leg |
Shabab Al Ordun ( |
5 |
0 |
SAFFC |
18/9/2007 |
|
Quarter-final,
second leg |
SAFFC |
3 |
0 |
Shabab Al Ordun ( |
25/9/2007 |
SAFFC
Scorers
|
5 goals |
Aleksandar Duric |
|
4 goals |
Ashrin Shariff |
|
2 goals |
Therdsak Chaiman,
Noor Ali |
|
1 goals |
Jamil Ali, Kenji
Arai, Mustaqim Manzur |
AFC Cup 2007 – Tampines Rovers
|
Stage |
Home
Team |
|
|
Away
Team |
Date |
|
Group |
Mohun Bagan ( |
0 |
0 |
Tampines Rovers |
6/3/2007 |
|
Group |
Tampines Rovers |
2 |
1 |
Osotspa M-150 ( |
20/3/2007 |
|
Group |
Pahang ( |
1 |
4 |
Tampines Rovers |
10/4/2007 |
|
Group |
Tampines Rovers |
2 |
0 |
Pahang ( |
24/4/2007 |
|
Group |
Tampines Rovers |
2 |
0 |
Mohun Bagan ( |
8/5/2007 |
|
Group |
Osotspa M-150 ( |
3 |
0 |
Tampines Rovers |
22/5/2007 |
|
Quarter-final,
first leg |
Tampines Rovers |
1 |
2 |
Al Faisaly ( |
18/9/2007 |
|
Quarter-final,
second leg |
Al Faisaly ( |
5 |
2 |
Tampines Rovers |
25/9/2007 |
Tampines
Rovers Scorers
|
3 goals |
Noh Alam Shah |
|
2 goals |
Ridhuan Muhamad,
Peres De Oliveria, Sutee Sukomkit |
|
1 goals |
Rafi Ali, Aliff
Shafaein, Sead Muratovic, Mirko Grabaovc |