Category: News
There was more than a hint of tentativeness in the way the Lion City Sailors played when they made their Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL) debut against Urawa Red Diamonds some two weeks ago.
Then, the Japanese outfit fully capitalised on the Sailors’ inexperience in the competition – and early nerves – to secure a 4-1 win.
Three games later, however, and it will be a vastly different Sailors side that Urawa will come up against on Wednesday (Apr 27) at the Buriram City Stadium.
Having notched two wins – including a historic 3-0 win over Daegu FC – and a draw since that defeat, the reigning Singapore Premier League (SPL) champions are now brimming with belief, assured in the knowledge that within the squad they have the ability to go toe-to-toe with Asia’s best.
Sailors winger Gabriel Quak is confident that his side is now better prepared to face Urawa, and will look to grab all three points against the Saitama-based club.
“The result against Daegu did wonders for the team, it made us realise that we can get a result against these teams – that we can beat them,” said Gabriel. “It will be no different when we take on Urawa – we will be going for the victory, even though they are undoubtedly the favourites.”
Reflecting on what went wrong for the Sailors in the first fixture, Gabriel admitted that they failed to adapt to the intensity of Urawa’s game quickly enough, although they did manage to put in a second-half performance that gave Ricardo Rodríguez’s men more than something to think about.
“As SPL champions, we were used to having a lot of the ball, playing against local teams that sit deep when they face us,” Gabriel mused. “So to suddenly – in a matter of days – transition from a team that dominates possession, to having much less of the ball and needing to defend more required some adjustment on our end.
“Of course, the intensity between the SPL and ACL is different. Nonetheless, we did play much better in the second half in our first-ever ACL game against Urawa, and that is something we have built on, and now we’re acclimatised even more to the rigours of the competition.”
Having exceeded expectations in the competition so far, the Sailors currently find themselves third in Group F, level on seven points with both Urawa and Daegu – and very much in the hunt to become the first Singapore side to qualify for the ACL’s Round of 16.
This is already the best performance by any Singapore team in the competition, but more importantly, it means the Sailors’ ACL destiny remains very much in their hands. The outcome of their final two group games – against Urawa and Daegu – is set to determine their fate in the competition.
And Gabriel revealed that the prospect of achieving what no other Singapore team has managed before will give the Sailors a boost for the final two games.
“We’ve definitely exceeded expectations so far, but we shouldn’t get carried away. Realistically speaking, prior to the start of this tournament, nobody would have imagined that we’d be where we are right now,” said Gabriel. “Now that we’ve gotten ourselves in this position, where qualification to the next round is within reach, we have to dig deeper and give it a good go.
“It’s been a topsy-turvy competition so far, with a lot of highs and lows, but the next two games will define how well we do in the competition, so it’s important for us to stay focused. Deep inside, all of us are desperate to progress, knowing how close we are.”
The Sailors remain underdogs to advance to the next round from Group F, but Gabriel believes that could work to their advantage against Urawa.
“I think the ball is definitely in Urawa’s court because they are the favourites to progress, we’re not. So, that added pressure on them could work in our favour,” he said.
Gabriel was acutely aware that while the team has the requisite tools to make the continent sit up and take notice, they must bring their A game when they step onto the pitch at the Buriram City Stadium this evening.
“Anything can happen, and you’ve seen already in this competition that results can be so unpredictable. On our end, we must have belief in ourselves and stick to the coach’s game plan,” said the 2020 SPL Player of the Year.
“We have to remain positive throughout, and fight for one another on the pitch, especially when the chips are down – that is the only way we can get a positive result.”
Urawa expecting a “different” Sailors side
The last two Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL) Group F matches have not gone according to plan for Ricardo Rodriguez’s Urawa Red Diamonds.
Since beating the Lion City Sailors 4-1 in their opening fixture and following that up with a 5-0 thumping of Chinese Super League side Shandong Taishan, Urawa endured a 1-0 loss to Daegu FC, then laboured to a 0-0 draw against the same opposition.
Rodriguez is looking to get his team’s ACL campaign properly on track with a win against the Sailors on Wednesday (27 April) at the Buriram City Stadium, but he is acutely aware that the Singapore Premier League champions will likely prove an entirely different proposition this time around.
“Every team learns after each game they play, and (the Sailors) are doing that – they are improving – and maybe they will be a different team (when we meet tomorrow evening),” said the Spaniard.
The Sailors went into half-time of that 15 April fixture 3-1 down, but took the game to Urawa in a much improved second half that saw the Sailors play some positive football and attack the Urawa goal.
“The Sailors will have their weapons…and for us it is important to cope with that, but this should be a different match compared to when we played in the first game,” added Rodriguez, without revealing just what he believes are the Sailors’ “weapons”.
“We will try with our style, but at the same time, think about our opponents’ intentions.”
Sitting next to Rodriguez at Thunder Castle’s media centre was Ken Iwao, who hinted that his teammates have yet to fully embrace the style that Rodriguez demands of the team at the ACL.
“I watched the last game from the stands, and the team played a similar football (to what we played last year) – a vertical, aggressive football. That was different to the football that Ricardo wants to play, but I understand the logic to do that to get victories,” said Iwao.
“To avoid misunderstanding, I’m not saying that we’re not playing Ricardo’s football, I’m just saying that we are playing that football to get victories – a slight change of priorities,” added the 34-year-old.
It was an odd suggestion from the midfielder, considering that Rodriguez has already led the team to two trophies – the Emperor’s Cup and the season-opening Japanese Super Cup – since he took over the side in February 2021.
Change is not an unfamiliar concept for Rodriguez, who has utilised 20 different players in his starting lineup across four games in Buriram. And it is perhaps an approach that will continue tomorrow evening.
“We are showing good performances (despite) our rotations. In one game we changed nine players, and in another we changed five players, we showed good quality and maybe the other teams can’t do that,” said the 48-year-old.
“We didn’t win the important last game (against Daegu), but we still have options because (Sailors and Daegu) still have to play each other. We just have to play good games and win our next two games.”
Four nights ago (21 April), the Lion City Sailors trudged off the Buriram City Stadium pitch knowing they should have got much more out of the game.
They laboured to a 0-0 draw with Chinese Super League winners Shandong Taishan in their Group F Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL) fixture, failing to break through the Chinese side’s tight defensive lines.
The Sailors swallowed that bitter pill, thrashed things out on the training ground, and turned in a much improved display in Sunday’s (24 April) reverse fixture against the same opposition, emerging 3-2 winners.
Sailors’ Head Coach Kim Do-hoon paid tribute to the hard work his charges put in to take those difficult lessons on board.
“We said after the last match that we need to wake up, and today we created a lot of good moments playing as a team and that’s something that we improved over training the past two days,” he said, speaking after the match at Buriram’s Thunder Castle.
“It’s been difficult with the Muslim boys in the team having to go through a tough schedule in the Ramadan period – credit goes to them and we’re happy to pull off this win.”
Goals from Song Ui-young, Pedro Henrique and Maxime Lestienne meant the Singapore Premier League (SPL) champions picked up their second win to follow up on the 3-0 upset of Daegu a week ago, and the Sailors continue to set new records for Singapore.
They have now amassed the most points and scored the most goals in the ACL group stage with seven in each category – eclipsing the record of four and six respectively achieved by the now-defunct SAFFC in 2010.
More significantly, the result has given renewed belief that the Sailors could become the first side from the Lion City to reach the ACL Round of 16, as they go into the penultimate round of matches in Group F level on points with the big boys of Urawa Red Diamonds and Daegu FC – who drew 0-0 with each other on Sunday.
“The final two matches (against Urawa and Daegu) are going to be tough, but we’re going to play and see where we end up,” said Kim.
He made three changes to the Sailors’ starting eleven, throwing Kim Shin-wook back into the mix after two games on the bench, while handing Nur Adam Abdullah and Haiqal Pashia their first ACL starts.
The Sailors showed more urgency and intensity, and were also more unpredictable in their play with nifty flicks and off-the-ball runs as they searched for gaps in the resolute Shandong defensive wall.
Shin-wook and Song linked up well in the opening half-hour, before the former thought he scored his first ACL goal for the Sailors when he instinctively stuck out a foot to deflect in Diego Lopes’ long-range shot on 32 minutes. However, two-time ACL winner Wookie was harshly adjudged to be in an offside position.
Captain Hariss Harun then went agonisingly close in the 45th minute with his header off Shahdan Sulaiman’s corner taking one bounce off the turf before flying over the bar.
The Sailors piled on the pressure and got their just rewards two minutes into first-half injury time. Pashia whipped in a teasing right-wing cross that Song met with a majestic header, sending the ball past Shandong goalkeeper Cao Zheng.
“I’m very happy to score and honestly it’s all about my team’s hard work that helped me to do so,” said Song. This was his second goal in the ACL group stage, and Song was also named the Man of the Match for the second time.
The Sailors doubled their lead in the 60th minute, with Pedro nodding home a Shahdan corner, and looked like a side that was learning to get comfortable on Asia’s biggest stage.
But there were more lessons in store for Kim’s men – this time about keeping focus.
The Sailors would miss out on a third straight clean sheet in the tournament with Shandong captain Lu Yongtao pulling one back from the spot on 76 minutes after he was tugged back by Hariss in the area. That was the first goal that Hassan Sunny had conceded after 299 minutes of ACL action.
Kim’s men then restored their two-goal cushion six minutes later, with substitute Maxime crisply finishing off Song’s low cross for his first ACL goal.
After spurning some chances to net a fourth, the Sailors allowed Shandong to score a second in the closing stages of the game with Liu Guobao rifling home a fine shot but would hold on for the all-crucial three points.
“It was also a good lesson learnt that if we lose our focus late in the game, we will concede,” said Kim.
“The level of fatigue is building up, but that’s no excuse because it’s the same for all teams. We also have to kill the game off when we’re leading,” said the 2020 ACL winner.
Next up for the Sailors is Urawa on Wednesday (27 April) before closing out the ACL group stages against Daegu on 30 April. and Song is out to ensure successful outings.
“Every game, I want to do my best and score for the team and the supporters. We know how strong Urawa and Daegu are, but at the same time we’re confident to be able to compete with them,” said the 28-year-old.
“We will prepare with the aim of winning six points against them.”
The goal for the Lion City Sailors in their next Group F Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL) match against Shandong Taishan today (24 April) is simple: win at all costs.
While it sounds straightforward enough, especially against a Shandong side that has sent their youth team to the competition, the Sailors know it is anything but.
After all, the Chinese side were able to hold the Sailors to a goalless draw last Thursday evening (21 April) with a defensive, disciplined display that left the reigning Singapore Premier League (SPL) champions frustrated.
But with the Sailors still hoping to defy the odds and progress to the next round of the competition, goalkeeper Hassan Sunny stressed that his side can ill-afford to drop any more points.
“I think we lost two points against Shandong,” Hassan said. “We absolutely cannot drop any more points against them. There are three points up for grabs (on Sunday), and we have to make full use of the opportunity to take it.”
Sailors coach Kim Do-hoon made no bones about his displeasure with the Sailors’ performance in the draw with Shandong, with the South Korean lamenting that his team “didn’t play” on the day.
Hassan admits that the players have only themselves to blame for not getting the win over Shandong, but urged his teammates to pick themselves up quickly to make amends in the reverse fixture.
“Like what coach Kim said, we didn’t really execute what we were supposed to, and we only have ourselves to blame,” the Singapore international mused. “We have to be responsible for our performances. Having said that, we can’t cry over spilt milk. We need to pick ourselves up fast, and get things right.
“I’ve told the boys before – whether we celebrate after winning a game, or cry after losing, we can only do it on that night itself. Tomorrow is a brand new day, and we have to look ahead to our next game, not get stuck on the previous one. As one of the senior players in the team, that is my job, to ensure the players’ focus is on what’s to come, and to lift their spirits.
“But thankfully, the team is always together, despite any circumstances or obstacles we face. I’m confident that we will emerge stronger for the coming games.”
Hassan believes that for the Sailors to get the victory in the return fixture with Shandong, they will have to be far more deadly in front of goal.
The 38-year-old said: “We need to be more clinical. We build up well, but we need to finish the play – we weren’t ruthless enough in our attacks in the first game. But we have a much-needed wake-up call now, so I believe we can get the three points this time.”
At the halfway mark of the ACL group stage, the Sailors currently find themselves third in Group F on four points – two points behind both Daegu FC and Urawa Red Diamonds.
While the Sailors entered the competition as underdogs, their displays against both Urawa and, in particular, Daegu have given them belief that they can progress to the next round.
Reflecting on the Sailors’ maiden ACL campaign so far, Hassan said: “I cannot say we’re satisfied, but I think we’ve surpassed expectations. We have another three games to go, and we can hopefully achieve something. If we can grab some points in our next game, it can give us a boost in terms of our performances and confidence.
“From there, we’ll see what we can do in the last two games, but I believe we have what it takes to advance. We just have to remain positive till the end of the tournament.”
A roar erupted from the Shandong Taishan bench, and the Chinese side’s players and officials burst forward in unison with fists raised to the Buriram sky.
It was 21 April, the final whistle had gone at the Buriram City Stadium, and the youth team of the Chinese Super League champions had come away with a 0-0 draw against the Lion City Sailors in Group F of the Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL).
Shandong players put their bodies on the line that Thursday, defending like their lives depended on it. And the Chinese side are poised to line up the same way when they face the Sailors again tomorrow (24 April).
“The Lion City (Sailors) will definitely perform better than the last game. For us we must stay humble, focus on the pitch – especially focus on defence – and try to perform our duty,” said Shandong coach Yu Yuanwei.
“LCS have great foreign players, and their (local) players have strong ability as well. We will try to handle them through tactics and the mental aspect (of our game).”
Speaking at the pre-match press conference in Buriram earlier today, both Yu and his goalkeeper Cao Zheng referred to the Sailors as “Singapore”, and Cao called on his team to draw on their own national pride tomorrow.
“We are a club from China, we are Shandong Taishan FC – we will 100 percent try to show our club culture and show our national spirit,” said Cao.
“We are a young squad who came here to show our ability…failure is something we will definitely (face) throughout this group stage. We will stay humble…and obey our coach’s instructions.”
Shandong are currently bottom of Group F with one point, behind the Sailors (four points), and Urawa Red Diamonds and Korean side Daegu FC who are both on six points, in what is a wide open Group F.
But Yu is not expecting his charges to surprise the continent and qualify for the Round of 16.
“Finishing in the top two is still possible in theory, but for us we never thought about finishing in the top two in this group,” he said.
“We are focused on the pitch, and how to let the players show their ability, show what they can do.”
After a 3-0 win over K League side Daegu FC that made Asia stand up and take notice earlier in the week, the Lion City Sailors knew they were in for a different type of test in their third Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL) Group F game against Chinese Super League champions Shandong Taishan on Thursday (21 April) night.
And against a Shandong side – represented by their youth team that mainly comprises players born after 2000 – that shipped 12 goals in their opening two fixtures, the Sailors laboured to a 0-0 draw.
On a night the Sailors assumed the unfamiliar role of favourites on Asia’s biggest stage, Kim Do-hoon’s men huffed and puffed, held more than 74 percent of the possession, but put only two of 19 shots on target and were simply not sharp enough in the attacking third.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, the livid Sailors’ Head Coach did not mince his words.
“We cannot say it’s an unlucky day at the office. No, we didn’t play, full stop,” said a fuming Kim.
“We were not on the pitch and I really want to apologise to our fans. It didn’t seem like we were ready to play – we need to reflect upon ourselves.
“If you’re not humble, if you’re stubborn, if you’re naive, this is the price you pay. It is a very expensive lesson that we’re learning tonight. Just because we won against Daegu, it doesn’t mean we’re at the top level of the continent. Hopefully this result can help us turn our focus back on again.”
Sailors captain Hariss Harun admitted the team felt “heavy” in their third ACL game in six days, but refused to use that as an excuse.
“We have to make more combination plays – to be proactive, move the ball a bit faster from side to side to drag them out and create space in between. We knew beforehand we had to do this, but we didn’t do it enough,” reflected the 31-year-old.
“We got chances from set plays, but we were not clinical enough to take those chances. The result doesn’t lie – and one point is all we deserve from this game.”
Kim made one change to the Sailors starting lineup, with Gabriel Quak coming into the attack. Song Ui-young continued to be deployed upfront as the Sailors reverted to a more conventional back four with Amirul Adli going to the right side of defence.
They conceded the opening goal in the 15th minute against Daegu and 26th minute against Urawa, so it was clear from the start that Shandong were out to keep things compact at the back and deny the Sailors space in their penalty area.
At times, it resembled an attack versus defence exercise. The Sailors had the lion’s share of the ball but were unable to find that extra bit of class to break through, ending the first half with no shots on target.
Kim’s men remained patient and continued probing in the early stages of the second half, before the 63rd-minute introduction of Kim Shin-wook added a different dimension to the Sailors’ attack.
Shin-wook scored on his previous two outings against Shandong when he was a Shanghai Shenhua player, and he almost did it again as a Sailor.
First, his 76th minute first-time shot from the edge of the box was palmed away by Shandong goalkeeper Cao Zheng. Then five minutes before full-time, Shin-wook then saw another volley smothered by Cao.
And that was as good as it got.
The result means that the Sailors are the first Singapore side to keep back-to-back clean sheets in the ACL, but it was scant consolation for Kim Do-hoon.
“The players know what they need to do. We need to fix things in training, we need to change the mentality, the attitude and the atmosphere in the dressing room,” he said.
“We will start again from zero and get back to doing what we do best together as a team.”
Daegu’s 1-0 win over Urawa in a later game threw Group F wide open. Both sides are on six points after three games, with the Sailors two points behind, still within touching distance.
Kim demanded an improved display from his charges for the re-match against Shandong on Sunday (24 April) night, and skipper Hariss believes the team have the ability to get the job done.
He said: “Moving forward we have to get better. We know we have the quality, now it’s about believing in ourselves, going out there and making the most of it.”
It was a shock result that made the Asian football world sit up and take notice, one that Lion City Sailors’ Song Ui-young still cannot quite believe actually happened.
The Sailors tore up the script in their Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL) Group F match against Daegu FC, overcoming the South Korean outfit 3-0 on a Monday night that will forever be etched in the history books of Singapore football.
Daegu’s defeat, however, not only gave the Sailors all three points and a night to remember – it also taught them a valuable lesson about the dangers of underestimating opponents.
And that is exactly what the Sailors will be looking to avoid, when they take on a youthful Shandong Taishan side this evening (21 April).
Ahead of the Sailors’ double-header against the Chinese side, Song said: “When we played against Daegu, they were maybe complacent against us. One of the Daegu players even told me that they didn’t really expect for us to be this strong.
“So it’s the same for us – even if we play the young players from Shandong, we must not be complacent. If we take it easy against Shandong, and we suffer a bad result, then all the effort that we put in for the last game against Daegu will go to waste.”
Shandong – who sent their youth team to the competition – have conceded a whopping 12 goals without scoring any in their first ACL two games, and will head into their clash against the Sailors as massive underdogs.
But Song is taking nothing for granted.
“We have to continue the momentum and show the quality of our game in the biggest competition in Asia. This is not only about the match itself – it’s about us representing Singapore football, so we have to put our best foot forward.”
Indeed, while Song made history by becoming the first Sailors player to score an ACL goal on Monday, he has since barely had time to celebrate and reflect on his achievement.
Nor, as it turns out, has the rest of the Sailors squad. Song revealed that although the team was buzzing from the massive three points against Daegu, they are now simply focused on upcoming challenges in the competition.
“We’ve got a huge confidence boost from the last game, and everyone is feeling really positive now,” said Song. “In fact, even after our first game against Urawa Reds (4-1 defeat), we already felt that we had the capability to challenge these bigger teams. That gave us the confidence to show our quality against Daegu,” he added, pointing to the second half performance that saw the Sailors take the game to the Japanese side.
“The three points against Daegu has put us in a good place in terms of the group stages – but we still have to aim to win every single game in order to stand a good chance of progressing to the next round of the competition.
“That is why right now, we are all working hard and fully focused on taking all three points in our next game, against Shandong.”
They have come with a young squad that has endured a torrid time in their opening two matches in Group F of the Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL), but Shandong Taishan are digging their heels in.
Ahead of Thursday evening’s (21 April) match against the Lion City Sailors, coach Yu Yuanwei called for his charges to shrug off the results of the last two matches and show just what they are made of when they step out onto the Buriram City Stadium pitch.
“After two matches the team is really facing a lot of pressure, not just mental (pressure) but physical (pressure) as well,” said a stoic Yu.
Shandong fell 7-0 to Daegu in their opening Group F match, then suffered a 5-0 defeat to Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds, with the team forced into a tiring exercise of defending in numbers in both matches.
“The Lion City Sailors beat Daegu 3-0, that is an unexpected result. But for us, both the Sailors and Daegu are stronger than us…so even if we know the match may not go our way, we will still try to perform in our own game.”
Shandong forward Abuduwaili Baihelamu sang from the same song book.
The 19-year-old said: “The ACL is a really important opportunity for us (to show our ability). We will just focus on our own game and try to perform our best. In fact, in the past two games, I think I have shown some improvement both mentally and technically.”
Yu may be forced into giving some of his players a rest, but it was something he had already expected.
“We didn’t bring a huge squad, and we don’t have a lot of players, but the nature of the schedule will force us to do rotation anyway,” he said.
“All we can do is try to perform better and surpass our performances in the last games.”
Score the first goal, earn the first point, eke out a first win, and then build from there.
Those were the targets set by Head Coach Kim Do-hoon for the Lion City Sailors as they embarked on their maiden Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL) campaign.
But even the most optimistic of fans could not have predicted that the Sailors would hit all the targets in just their second-ever ACL game.
Last night (18 April), Kim’s men played with their heads in the right place and hearts on their sleeves to beat Daegu FC 3-0.
In doing so, they became the first Singapore side to beat a K-League team, and the first to score three goals in an ACL game. The Sailors are also only the second-ever club from the country to win a game in the ACL, as well as keep a clean sheet in the competition. The now-defunct SAFFC were the first team to achieve those milestones, with their 2-1 victory over China’s Henan Jianye in April 2010, as well as a goalless draw against Henan that same year.
“It’s a great upset that we caused and a historic night for the Lion City Sailors, and I want to thank and congratulate my players. I really want to enjoy this with them and the fans, but the next game is just around the corner,” stressed the 2020 ACL winner, Kim.
“We’ve to rest well, continue to work hard to get more points and try our best (in the remaining four group matches) to qualify for the last 16.”
Few would have predicted the result – this after 2021 K League 1 second runners-up Daegu – who reached the ACL Round of 16 as recently as last year – thrashed China’s Shandong Taishan 7-0 while the Sailors went down to a 4-1 defeat to Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds on their competition debut three days earlier.
But Kim Do-hoon – who holds a record of eight wins from 15 matches against Daegu when he was in charge of Ulsan Hyundai and was undefeated in seven previous encounters – had something up his sleeve, despite an injury sustained by star frontman Kim Shin-wook in the build-up to the game.
Korean-born Singaporean Song Ui-young led the line well in place of Wookie – who has a record of six goals and three assists in 16 appearances against Daegu – and became the first Sailors player to net in the ACL, before Brazilian imports Diego Lopes and Pedro Henrique joined him on the scoresheet on a night to remember.
Cannot? The Sailors certainly can.
They burst right out of the blocks at the Buriram City Stadium in their all-blue away kit, and came close to scoring after just two minutes, when Song’s shot ricocheted off the post.
Hassan Sunny pulled off a blinding save at the other end to keep out a long-range scorcher by Daegu midfielder Bruno Lamas in the 13th minute, but few would say the Sailors did not deserve the lead they took eight minutes later.
Song leaped like a salmon to connect with Maxime’s gorgeous left-wing cross and sent the ball looping over a bemused Choi Young-eun in the Daegu goal.
Kissing the Singapore flag emblazoned down the middle of his Sailors jersey as he wheeled away in celebration, Song stayed true to his words before the match.
“We had a chat at meal time earlier in the day and Song promised to have a good game if he played in place of Shin-wook. He kept his promise and that’s the most important thing,” revealed Coach Kim.
“He played in the no. 9 position last year in the league, so I know his ability in this position and he’s also a role model who is ready to play in any position for the team.”
Song, who was a constant thorn in the side of the Daegu defence on a night he was named Man of the Match, asserted that the goal fuelled the team’s confidence.
“When I connected with the ball, I had a good feeling that the ball was going in and it did. I was very happy to score, and after that all of us felt that we could go on to win the game,” said the 28-year-old.
“This win is not just for Lion City Sailors fans, it’s also for Singapore football.”
The Sailors took the one-goal lead into the break, but Daegu upped their ante in the second half and fashioned enough goal-scoring opportunities to turn the game around. Hassan stood tall in the Sailors’ goal, pulling off a few big saves to keep his team in front. Daegu were also uncharacteristically profligate in front of goal: captain Kim Jin-hyuk inexplicably failed to convert from a yard out, while 2012 AFC Player of the Year Lee Keun-ho saw his effort hit the woodwork.
Kim’s men rode out the storm, stuck to their tasks, fending off wave after wave of Daegu attacks before sealing the historic win with two goals in the latter stages of the game.
In the 71st minute, Maxime and Diego combined expertly in a lightning quick counter-attacking move that took out Daegu goalkeeper Choi, with the latter then showing the composure to slam home past two Daegu defenders on the line.
The win was secured nine minutes later, with Pedro glancing in a header off Shahdan Sulaiman’s corner.
Kim’s men remained focused till the final whistle while Daegu ended the night with 10 men after Hong Chul was dismissed for a reckless lunge on Song.
The Sailors are now second in Group F, three points behind leaders Urawa, who demolished Shandong 5-0 on the same night.
The result and performance have now provided the Sailors with a solid platform to build on ahead of a crucial double-header against Shandong on 21 and 24 April.
“To cope, excel and get a result against a big team while playing during the Ramadan period is a proud moment for our boys,” said Kim.
“We put our heads down, kept our cool and played with confidence tonight – that’s something we need to keep doing to give our fans more to be proud of and excited about.”
Daegu FC got their Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL) Group F campaign off to a flying start, resoundly beating Shandong Taishan 7-0 on Friday (15 April), but Head Coach Alexandre Gama insisted there is no complacency as the South Korean side lines up against the Lion City Sailors tomorrow (18 April) evening.
Indeed, the Brazilian tactician is acutely aware of the threat posed by frontman Kim Shin-wook and a “strong” Sailors team.
“(Shin-wook) worked with me in the (South Korean) national team before, he’s a good player, a big name. It’s very difficult to mark him, he’s tall and strong, but they have good Singapore players and Brazilians (Diego Lopes and Pedro Henrique) too,” said Gama at the ACL pre-match press conference.
The 54-year-old worked with the 1.98m Shin-wook during his time as assistant coach of the South Korea national team in 2011.
“Lion City Sailors are a very good team. They may have lost the first game(a 4-1 defeat to Urawa Red Diamonds), but we know they will try to improve a lot (before our match),” said Gama.
“But we are ready. My players have adapted to the weather here…and we’re very confident. We know all about the Lion City Sailors, and they know about us.”
Gama has set his sights on leading Daegu into the Round of 16, and he believes a good performance and result against the Sailors will be critical to take his charges one step closer to that target – and there is no room for any complacency.
“This will be totally different from our first game (the 7-0 win over Shandong Taishan). We don’t think that because of our first game, we can fly – no,” said a serious Gama.
“We must do our job. We want a good game to get three points, but we know the Lion City Sailors will give us a difficult game.”
