2000/01 Asian Club Championship & 2000/01 Asian Cup Winners' Cup
In 1999, after years of underperforming in
the domestic league, despite having a budget any S-league club would envy, Home
United finally under the guidance of Dutchman Robert Alberts
rose to win their first S-league title.
Now in 2000, the Protectors were ready to
take up the challenge in their first ever foray in the Asian Club Championship.
For the Protectors, they could not asked
for an easier opposition than Macao champions Polícia de Seg
Pública and it was no surprise they easily dispatched
the Macao champion with ease. The first leg already effectively ended the tie
as the Protectors won 5-0 in
In the second round though, the Protectors
will come up against much tougher oppositions in the form of Chinese Champions
The Protectors were no match for the
Chinese champions. In the first leg in
For the other uniformed team, the
Warriors, they were to have yet another disappointing exit from
In the previous two years, they had the
excuse that they were unlucky to meet strong Thai team with S-league teams not
yet equipped to meet them yet but now with them playing in the Asian Cup
Winners' Cup and up against Vietnamese club Cang
Saigon, they somehow failed to progress yet again.
We must not forgot that it was the maiden
year of Vietnamese professional football while the Republic were already into
their fifth year of professional football and worse was that the Warriors had
what is considered among the strongest and best S-league squad in 2000 as they
captured the S-league crown easily that year.
So it is a total farce the way they fell
to the Vietnamese FA Champion.
In the first leg in
Any fans would now be confident about the
Warriors chances of further progressing as they hold the ace with not only home
ground advantage but also the fact in their squad they have ace striker Mirko Grabovac, who had scored seven
Asian goals last term.
However in one of the worst display ever
by the Warriors, they were completely outplayed by the
Certainly a mixed campaign by S-league
clubs in Asia as the Protectors playing in their first ever Asia club
competition did a reasonable job dispatching Macao Polícia
de Seg in the first round and despite being
completely outplayed by Chinese Champion Shandong Luneng
in the second round, they have nothing to be ashamed for the Chinese League is
several notches above the S-league and it is the Protectors first attempt. It
will serve as a great learning curve for the Protectors and one hoped they will
improve from it unlike their uniformed rival.
Indeed one find it hard to find any
excuses for the now three-time S-league Champions as they yet again displayed
another disappointing performance in Asia casting doubts among this author if
they were just another S-league club who are easily satisfied with domestic
football alone.
After all they have the best record in the
domestic scene and have certainly displayed the abilities to play great
football but in
If that was the case, one can feel sad
about the mentality of one of Singapore giants, SAFFC, for it is an honour for them to fly the Republic flag overseas every
year but they just do not seems to be able to fulfill the minimum promise one
would expect from them.
2000/2001 Asian Club Championship
|
Stage |
Home
Team |
|
|
Away
Team |
Date |
|
First
Round, First leg |
Polícia de Seg. Pública
( |
0 |
5 |
Home
United |
- |
|
First
Round, Second leg |
Home
United |
6 |
0 |
Polícia de Seg. Pública
( |
- |
|
Second
Round, First leg |
|
3 |
0 |
Home
United |
- |
|
Second
Round, Second leg |
Home
United |
1 |
3 |
|
- |
2000/2001 Asian Cup Winners' Cup
|
Stage |
Home
Team |
|
|
Away
Team |
Date |
|
First
Round, First leg |
Cang Saigon ( |
0 |
0 |
SAFFC |
- |
|
First
Round, Second Leg |
SAFFC |
0 |
2 |
Cang Saigon ( |
- |