2004 AFC Cup

In 2003, Qatari Mohamed bin Hammam was elected as President of AFC and immediately the new president implemented a new plan known as Vision Asia.

Part of this plan divided Asian club football into three parts with the AFC Champions League restricted to the top group of 14 countries considered 'mature’ with the next group of 14 countries considered 'developing' with their own competition known as the AFC Cup. The last group of 17 countries were considered ‘emerging’ with a competition known as 'AFC Presidents Cup' to start in May 2005.

Singapore was grouped into the second group of 14 countries considered ‘developing’ and participate in the 2004 inaugural AFC Cup. Other countries in the group are Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Syria, Turkmenistan, Yemen, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar and North Korea.

Of these 14 eligible countries, Jordan, Myanmar and North Korea opted not to enter any teams at all, while both Hong Kong and Oman allocated only one of their two slots to their clubs, meaning only twenty teams enter the inaugural AFC Cup instead of the intended twenty-eight teams.

To ensure the clubs get as many games as possible to develop and market themselves, the old knockout format was discarded with the twenty teams divided into five groups of four and in a home and away format for a total of six games for each team. The five group winners and three best runner-ups qualify for the knockout quarter-final stage.

The honour of leading the Republic challenge in the inaugural AFC Cup fell to Double Champions Home United and Geylang United.

The Protectors, since their debut in Asia back in 2000, had been involved in every Singapore foray into Asia and by now, they had an experienced side with quite a number of the squad having Asian experience. They certainly showed that in their AFC Cup challenge with them the first ever S-league side to play and win against Middle-East oppositions showing the Bishan-based club potential for greater things to come.

While for the Eagles, it was their second foray into Asia in three years but in comparison to the Protectors they only had a few members with Asian experience due to their second rebuilding in as many years.

With the vast difference in Asian experience between both sides, it was no surprise they had two distinctly different start to their AFC Cup campaign with the Eagles falling 2-3 to ASEAN & Indian NFL Champions at Bedok while the Protectors thrashed Hong Kong League Champions Happy Valley 5-1 at Bishan.

The Eagles new three-man defence were cruelly exposed by the ASEAN & Indian Champions while their midfield had a hard time controlling the tempo of the game. That was why, despite the Eagles taking the lead, the ASEAN & Indian Champions could make a comeback hitting three-goal without reply before late in the game when the Eagles pulled another goal back. It was not enough as the Eagles went down in their opener in Bedok.

On the next night, it was a completely different story as the S-league Double Champions took apart Hong Kong League Champions Happy Valley at Bishan with their record top scorer Egmar not only grabbing the club first ever goal in the competition but also the first ever hat-trick. Getting in the act was Singapore top hitman Indra and 2003 Player of the Year Peres with each getting one to make it 5-1 in Protectors favour.

But once the opener was over, the path for both teams took a more similar route as both went on a goal scoring streak in their next match with the Eagles thrashing Maldives FA champions Island FC 5-0 while 24 hours later the Double Champions thrashed Maldives League Champion Club Valencia 3-0.

On hindsight, it may not seem much as critics will no doubt point out Maldives is not one of the top football side even in South Asia but try telling that to Negri Sembilan and Happy Valley who fell to Maldives sides Island FC and Club Valencia in Maldives. Even South Korea National team could not defeat Maldives National team in the Maldives and had to be content with a 0-0 draw. Clearly defeating Maldives sides, playing on their own home ground, are no mean feat, let alone thrash them.

In round three, the Protectors were still neck in neck with M-League Champion Perak after a 2-2 draw in Ipoh while the Eagles take a giant step towards capturing second spot, as then group leader East Bengal were running away with the group with three straight wins, by defeating the only creditable opposition - Malaysian FA Champions Negri Sembilan - 1-0 at KL.

Into the reverse fixtures, Protectors and Perak still could not tear themselves apart with them grabbing another 2-2 draw this time at Bishan. It should be Home United who feel more disappointed with the points dropped as Perak was down to ten men and Perak equalizer came in injury time and way before that, the Protectors could have stretched their lead further. Chance after chance fell to their hitmen Egmar, Indra, Peres and Sutee but somehow they just could not finished especially Egmar who had scored in all the three previous AFC Cup matches.

For the Eagles though they saw themselves cement their second position with another win over Negri Sembilan. The Malaysian side had taken the lead in the first half but after the restart, under-pressure Chinese import, Chang Hui equalized for the Eagles before Eagles top hitman Duric scored the winner - like the previous encounter when it was also Duric who notched the winner.

With this result, it was a ‘Cup Final’ for the Eagles in the next match as it will be one match they cannot afford to lose but at the same time they cannot afford not to win as AFC rules stated that in the event of two teams tied on same points, the results from the two matches both teams played would be used as the icebreaker.

That mean the Eagles must win against East Bengal at their Salt Lake Stadium, no matter the other results, as it would mean the Eagles cannot overtake the ASEAN & NFL Champions.

The Eagles though failed in their task as they were held to a 1-1 draw despite taking the lead through a Daniel Hill header in the first period and holding it until half time. The new crowned Indian NFL Champion bombarded the Eagles goal after the restart but the once fragile Eagles defence showed incredible efforts and commitments to shut them out. It was in vain as the Indian finally got the equalizer late in the game. It was a cruel blow but the Eagles still stood a chance to qualify for the quarter-final stage as long as they won their last remaining game.

That was what the Eagles did as they defeated Island FC 1-0 at Bedok.

For Singapore other representative, Protectors, they did what was required winning their last two matches – 2-0 against Happy Valley and 5-0 against Club Valencia – handsomely to qualify as group winner alongside Perak in second spot on goal difference.

In the quarter-final, Protectors was drawn against Olympic Beirut from Lebanon while Eagles met Perak.

But that can wait as there was now a four-month break in action for the Asian Cup and during that time much happen to both clubs.

First, Home United lost their AFC Cup first choice custodian Ridzuan Fatah Hassan in the transfer window to Jaguars as a result of the end of his NS stint and with their other viable keeper, Sean Roberts, a foreign player, they cannot hoped to play him unless they wished to weaken other aspect of their team. Fortunately they got to loan Young Lions custodian Lionel Lewis as replacement before the AFC Cup action restart. For the Eagles, it was more a dramatic change with three of their four foreign players replaced with only Duric left intact. Even on the local front, a few players were not spared as changes were made.

Not that all transfers movements affected the two clubs once AFC Cup action resume.

Perak was expected to offer much resistance to the Eagles, with even Perak coach glad at the draw back in May to have drawn the Eagles, but it did not turned out the case. Eagles defeated Perak, both times over the two-leg winning 2-1 at Ipoh before winning again 3-2 at Bedok.

It was a remarkable result and a testimonial of the strength of the S-league.

Further proof was the result Home United got over Olympic Beirut from Lebanon. It is no secret that Republic teams always had a hard time in the Middle-East and there is even a theory Singapore teams cannot played in the Middle-East but the Protectors disproved that with a dramatic comeback draw against the Lebanon side.

Olympic Beirut hit the Protectors first taking the lead early in the game but Home United equalized soon through Indra. Still, the Lebanon side retook the lead before half-time and stretched that after the break and with time running out, the omens were not good for the Protectors. At this point, Indra scored his second goal, heading home a cross from Egmar Goncalves before a defensive error allowed Egmar the opportunity to fire a powerful strike past the Olympic goalkeeper for the draw.

In the second leg at Bishan, all Home United needed was a goalless draw and they went out to achieve that by harassing the Olympic Beirut players non-stop but it did not stop the Protectors own attacking instinct as they could have taken the lead twice in the first half through Peres.

Olympic Beirut made Home United pay for not taking their chances as the Lebanon side took the lead from a freekick in the second period but instead of a demoralized Home United from that point on, the Double Champions showed their commitment to the cause in their comeback.

A cross from Fahmie Abdullah on the Home United left was met by Peres and won. The header went across the box into the path of Egmar and the ex-Singapore international, in between two Olympic players caught in no-man-land, leap up to place a firm header into the net. After that, a freekick on the flank swing in by Fahmie caught Olympic Beirut players napping with three Protectors – Indra, Egmar and Peres - attacking it but only one Olympic defender found anywhere near them. Peres got to the ball first and dispatching it into the net.

Thus the record book was rewritten with two S-league clubs reaching the semi-final of an Asian Club competition for the first time ever.

But that was where the road ended with Protectors stopped by Syrian side Al Jaish – the team with the best defence – thrashing the Protectors – the team with the best attack – in Damascus 4-0 effectively ending the tie even with another leg to play. In the second leg, the Protectors did not even have the pleasure of capping off a good AFC Cup run with a win as they lost at Bishan 1-2.

The Eagles though had a creditable 1-1 draw also against Syrian opposition, Al Wahda. It was yet another sign that showed S-league clubs can stand up to Middle-East sides in the Middle-East.

Unfortunately, in the second leg, the Eagles went down to an early goal due to poor defensive work as despite being surrounded by three Eagles players, Iyad Mandou was allowed to send a through ball that found Guinean striker Moussa Traore, who slid a low shot past goalkeeper Shahril Jantan just inside the far post.

Still the Eagles could have won the game as in the last ten minutes of the game, the Eagles found themselves with three golden chances to draw level and win it but wasted them all.

First, a poor clearance by the Al Wahda defence presented possession back to Eagles, who worked the ball over to Mark Williams on the Eagles left flank. The defender sent in an inviting high cross to the far post but Noor Ali headed well over from point blank range with the keeper in no-man-land.

Then with time running out, Duric was presented with a glorious opportunity when Azowar dropped a high cross from the right but it just dropped behind the Australian, who back now faced the goal, so he had to hurry his shot but two defenders were already on the line and it came off against the top of the woodwork and out of play.

The last golden chance fell back to Noor Ali, who could have make up for his earlier miss, as he took the ball down the right byline and got pass his marker before sending in a shot that curled and past the keeper but it rattled off the top of the crossbar and out to safety, putting an end to Geylang United’s AFC Cup hopes.

This was indeed Singapore best year in Asia.

It left one wondering if it had been the result of not seeing the disappointing Warriors lead the Singapore challenge. It cannot be that only and one must give credits to Home United and Geylang United for the efforts and commitments shown on their way to the semi-final. They have shown they are the far-thinking clubs that S-league needed and it is hoped they can make Asia more often.

In all, it seem the decision - by AFC to split up Asian countries into three groups - could eventually produced the goods for Singapore as now local teams have the chance to play decent oppositions throughout the year instead of the limited actions over a few short weeks like the past. Also with a decent chance to move into the knockout stage, the chance of meeting Middle-East teams is highly probable and that can only aid the Republic as more players are exposed to the West Asia region style of football and environment.

Singapore representatives

AFC Cup 2004 – Home United

Stage	Home Team			Away Team	Date
Group	Home United	5	1	Happy Valley (HK)	11/2/2004
Group	Club Valencia (Maldives)	0	3	Home United	25/2/2004
Group	Perak (Malaysia)	2	2	Home United	6/4/2004
Group	Home United	2	2	Perak (Malaysia)	20/4/2004
Group	Happy Valley (HK)	0	2	Home United	5/5/2004
Group	Home United	5	0	Club Valencia (Maldives)	19/5/2004
Quarter-final, first leg	Olympic Beirut (Lebanon)	3	3	Home United	15/9/2004
Quarter-final, second leg	Home United	2	1	Olympic Beirut (Lebanon)	22/9/2004
Semi-final, first leg	Al Jaish (Syria)	4	0	Home Umited	20/10/2004
Semi-final, second leg	Home United	1	2	Al Jaish (Syria)	27/10/2004

Home United Scorers

8 goals	Egmar Gonclaves
7 goals	Indra Sahdan
5 goals	Peres De Oliveira
2 goals	Suttee Suksomkit
1 goal	A Siva Kumar, Liew Kit Kong (OG), Mohammed Nizam (OG)

AFC Cup 2004 – Geylang United

Stage	Home Team			Away Team	Date
Group	Geylang United	2	3	East Bengal (India)	10/2/2004
Group	Island FC (Maldives)	0	5	Geylang United	24/2/2004
Group	Negri Sembilan (Malaysia)	0	1	Geylang United	7/4/2004
Group	Geylang United	2	1	Negri Sembilan (Malaysia)	21/4/2004
Group	East Bengal (India)	1	1	Geylang United	5/5/2004
Group	Geylang United	1	0	Island FC (Maldives)	18/5/2004
Quarter-final, first leg	Perak (Malaysia)	1	2	Geylang United	14/9/2004
Quarter-final, second leg	Geylang United	3	2	Perak (Malaysia)	21/9/2004
Semi-final, first leg	Al Wahda (Syria)	1	1	Geylang United	19/10/2004
Semi-final, second leg	Geylang United	0	1	Al Wahda (Syria)	26/10/2004

Geylang United Scorers

5 goals	Aleksandar Duric
2 goals	Noor Ali, Hafiz Rahim, Fazrul Nawaz
1 goal	Jeyapal, Razali Johari, Nahar Daud, Chang Hui, Daniel Hill