Competition: Sinchi FC vs Albirex Niigata FC
(S)
Date & Time: 12 May 2005 7:30:00 PM
Venue: Jurong
Political Issues Aside as Foreign Teams Clash
Sinchi FC and Albirex Niigata have brushed aside the political
agenda that hovers over their clash this Thursday at the Jurong
Stadium.
News of Chinese mob protesting against the Japanese amendment of
their own history textbooks and the War Shrine visits have been
splashed across major newspapers over the last month or so, giving
this match a twinge of political flavour.
For the record, after the Japanese national team defeated their
Chinese counterparts in the Asian Cup final last year, Chinese fans
rioted in major cities to vent their frustration.
However, it will be football over politics here in the S-League, as
promised by both sides.
We (Sinchi FC) are playing in the S-League, there would be no
political factors involved, insisted Wang Jinhui, the Chilins
general manager.
His sentiments were echoed by Bogdan Brasoveanu, the White Swans
manager, It will be just like any other game. Whether its Home,
Balestier or Sinchi, we would play to our best to get the three
points.
Ironically, both sides have gone through similar fortunes this
season. Both had generated much pre-season hype by reshaping their
squads from last season and promising to be amongst the elite this
season. And both seem to have faltered, judging by the results so
far.
Sinchi currently sit one place above the bottom, chalking up just a
single win from their first round of nine matches, against the
pointless Paya Lebar Punggol.
Albirex are not much better, garnering just four more points than
Sinchi. Their highlight of the season must have been the 4-0
demolition of 2003 champions Home United in early April, but
otherwise, they had looked ordinary.
Nonetheless, both camps had expressed optimism as the S-League
season reaches the one-third mark.
Progress in the Singapore Cup (a fortnight ago) has done the team
good in terms of morale, Wang expressed.
Now we have to concentrate on getting points in the league and
achieve our target of a top six finish.
Meanwhile, Albirex have identified their failure to convert
goal-scoring opportunities in the first nine league games as their
stumbling block.
We have created sufficient opportunities in most our games, but
our failure to convert them have cost us dearly, lamented
Brasoveanu.
It will be one area that we will be looking to improve.
Politics or no politics, expect both sides to go all out in this
clash as they seek to improve on their current league positions -
almost as passionately as their counterparts back home.
If not more.