SAFFC might currently be smacked in
one of Asias shopping havens, but three points are all they intend
to bring home when they take on Happy Valley of Hong Kong on
Tuesday evening.
The two teams meet at Mongkok Stadium in an AFC Cup 2007 Group E
match, while Mahindra United of India host Maldivian side New
Radiant in Goa on the same day.
Victory is vital for the Warriors following their 0-2 home loss to
Mahindra two weeks ago, and getting a result against Happy Valley
will at least ensure they are on level terms with their hosts, who
had overcome New Radiant by the same scoreline.
Club coach Richard Bok is keeping his eyes firmly on the prize, as
he ruled out any chance of distractions being allowed to get in the
way of the team achieving its mission.
We are not going shopping there, he said ahead of the teams
flight out of Changi Airport on Sunday afternoon.
It is a big game for us, and we need the three points to boost our
hopes of qualification for the knockout stage. We are definitely
going there with winning in mind.
The SAFFC honchos sentiments were echoed by his skipper Mohd Noor
Ali, who noted that the players have gotten over the losing start
to their first AFC Cup campaign.
Stressing the need to secure victory, he has further thrown down
the gauntlet by challenging the team to emerge top of Group E to
ensure automatic qualification.
Morale in the team is good at the moment, so I guess its not
entirely a negative thing that we lost to Mahindra, said the
winger.
We are mentally prepared to play against the Hong Kong team. We
know how important it is for us to get our first three points and
keep ourselves alive in the tournament.
We definitely want to get a win in Hong Kong, because that will
open everything up. We want to finish top of the group, and we
still have to play Mahindra in India, Happy Valley at home and New
Radiant twice, so anything can happen.
I think expectations are high at the club this year, especially
after we have improved the team with a few good signings. Sure, we
will take some time to gel, but maybe things will start coming off
for us in Hong Kong.
The Warriors have cause to feel good about this match, considering
the fact that Hong Kong is one of their happier hunting grounds in
a history of continental disappointment.
In the clubs only previous competitive visit to the former British
colony ten years ago, they had defeated Instant-Dict 6-3 over two
legs in the first round of the now-defunct Asian Cup Winners
Cup.
The S.League champions current form book also makes for
encouraging reading. They stand unbeaten after two matches in the
new season, including a 3-2 victory over Albirex Niigata FC
(Singapore) last Wednesday.
These indicators suggest that the players have shaken off the rust
in their system after sitting out the invitational SingTel League
Cup in February, leaving Bok confident that the team can claim
victory if they keep to their usual style of aggressive, speedy
play.
We lost to Mahindra despite creating many chances to win, but I
still think we are better prepared this time than in our past Asian
campaigns, he remarked.
The Albirex game, for example, has been a big morale boost,
because they are a very good footballing side. We managed to beat
them playing at a high tempo, and we created the chances again and
scored this time.
We created many chances against Albirex and put three in.
Hopefully we will create many chances against Happy Valley too and
put many of them in.
I think we can do it without making many adjustments to the team
tactics, because we are comfortable with the way we play.
Tactically speaking, I believe our formula works.
The hint of no changes means Bok may not be handing a start to
Aidil Sharin, one of only two players in the squad with first-hand
experience against the Hong Kong side.
The 29-year-old had met the 2006 Coolpoint Ventilation First
Division champions in 2004 and 2005 while donning the colours of
Home United. Long-term injury victim Ali Imran Lomri, who had also
played as a substitute against them before, is not travelling this
time round.
Aidil has already been involved in the teams preparations for this
match, however, having compared notes with Bok on a side which has
not reached the AFC Cup knockout stage in three attempts.
The conclusions indicate little change since 2006, with new coach
Jose Ricardo Rambo taking over a side that has seen Brazilian
Vandre Monteiro replace Nigerian Colly Ezeh Barnes, who has gained
Hong Kong citizenship and moved to local rivals Sun Hei.
I have discussed with Aidil about how Happy Valley has played, and
he has noted how they have not really had many changes in their
squad, said Bok of his teams opponents.
I had also watched them last year when they met Tampines Rovers.
Both of us thus expect them to play the same way they have played
in the past couple of years.
Aidil gives us experience in certain game situations, and I can
deploy him to hold the line just in front of the back four. He also
holds the ball and passes it well, so that is valuable experience
at this level.
Whether he will actually feature in this game, though, I still
dont know yet. It all depends on how things go when we get
there.