The Lion City Sailors Women’s Team fought tooth and nail before going down to a 5-0 defeat by Jordan Women’s Pro League champions Etihad Club to end their 2024/25 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Champions League (AWCL) campaign at the Preliminary Stage on Wednesday (28 August) night. 

Up against far superior opposition at the Prince Mohammed Stadium, the Sailors Women held out well until their resistance was broken in the 30th minute. The hosts added two more goals before the break to effectively kill the tie off, before a quickfire double in the second half put an exclamation mark on an emphatic win.

Speaking after the game, Sailors Women Head Coach Daniel Ong refused to blame fatigue – his side were playing their second game in the space of four days, after an opening-day 4-1 reverse to India’s Odisha FC – and was determined to learn from the harsh lessons of playing continental football.

“Given the number of training sessions we had with the girls, we prepared the team to the best of our abilities and the girls truly gave their very best in these two matches. Every single one of them, including those who didn’t play, did their part in pushing each other to their very best,” said the 35-year-old.

“What we’ll need to do is work more on our fitness and levels of concentration, because some of the goals that we conceded could definitely have been avoided and should have been better dealt with. 

Midfielder Dorcas Chu sang from the same hymn book. 

“Etihad are technically and tactically really strong; they play really fast football – they are the benchmark of what we hope to achieve one day. The speed of their game was even faster than Odisha’s, and something that the team had never encountered before,” said the 22-year-old, who was her usual bustling self in the middle of the park. 

“After the first-half goals, we regrouped and adjusted our game plan and did way better in the second half. We kept trying to play proper football. I’m really proud of the team for being so flexible and resilient even though we were losing; none of us had our heads down.” 

There was little doubt about the calibre of the opposition that the Sailors Women were coming up against. Representing Jordan, a country ranked 68th in the FIFA World Rankings – 64 places above Singapore – Etihad fielded several Jordanian internationals with AFC Asian Cup experience under their belts. 

One of those was Jordan women’s national team captain Maysa Jbarah, who came with the reputation of being fourth in the list of all-time leading goalscorers in international women’s football, with an astonishing record of 137 goals in 133 caps. 

It was little surprise, then, that the 34-year-old was the star of the night, plundering four goals past Sailors custodian Beatrice Tan. 

Having made two changes from their first game with 15-year-old Cara Chang and Miray Altun coming in for Priscille Le Helloco and Nurhidayu Naszri, the young Sailors Women side did however hold their own in the opening exchanges. 

There were glimpses of the pass-and-move philosophy that Daniel has been trying to instill in his side, with the Sailors Women stringing passes together and looking to exploit the pace of 14-year-old Nur Ain Salleh down the right flank. 

The girls were up for the physical duels too, with Dorcas and pint-sized Khairunnisa Anwar flying into challenges to thwart Etihad’s attacks. 

The Sailors Women could even have taken a shock lead just five minutes in when Raeka Ee capitalised on a defensive error to run through on goal, only to lose her footing at a crucial moment and see the chance go begging. 

After that early escape, a formidable Etihad side – boasting a 100% record of 12 wins in their domestic league so far with 56 goals scored and just two conceded – began to impose themselves as the first half wore on.

After producing two brilliant saves to deny Zeina Hazem and Bin Ziyan Fatma, Beatrice was unable to prevent Jbarah’s effort from sneaking underneath her grasp to give the home side the lead in the 30th minute.

The Etihad No. 8 – who has played professionally in France, Turkey and Saudi Arabia – was at it again six minutes later as she latched onto Leen Al-Btoush’s defence-splitting pass to score with a comfortable finish. 

The hosts made it 3-0 in first-half stoppage time when the Sailors Women failed to clear a corner, and winger Rouzbahan Fraij’s shot was deflected past Beatrice by an unfortunate Raeka. 

Jbarah rounded off the scoring in the second half with another two lethal finishes from close range to give her side a comfortable victory. 

The win leaves Etihad and Odisha to battle for qualification to the Group Stage in a winner-take-all clash on Saturday (31 August) night, while the Sailors Women return home with plenty of pride as they resume their Deloitte Women’s Premier League (WPL) title pursuit with three matches left. 

Reflecting on the “huge learning curve” for his side, Daniel said: “The biggest takeaway is not only the tactical situations that we encountered, but also the individual technical abilities that we need to keep improving on.

“But I have to say, I loved the way the girls played their football even though they knew our opponents were a lot better and stronger than us. Their bravery, willingness to try and eagerness to improve are qualities that will help us in the future.” 

For Dorcas, it is all about looking at the bigger picture, as the Sailors Women continue to be trailblazers for Singapore women’s football. 

“We’re all extremely grateful to have had this opportunity to represent the club at international level,” she said. “Not everyone has this chance, and especially as the first Singapore team to play in the AWCL, we couldn’t be any more honoured. 

“I want the people back in Singapore to know that we as a team gave our 110% on the field, and I hope we have given a good account of ourselves and of Singapore women’s football. It gives us great confidence to know that we can compete at this high level and even score against India’s top team. 

“We saw the difference in the level of intensity of the teams that we played against and we hope to have the fans’ patience, as we are determined to work really hard when we come back home to bridge the gap. It will take time, and we hope to have their support along the way. 

“We’re excited to bring this level of intensity back to the WPL and one thing is for sure – we want to win the league so that we can compete in the AWCL again next season.”