After the packed schedule of 2005, where matches came in fast and thick, 2006 looked in comparison to be light with only the AFC Cup on the Asian radar despite some complains from an Eastern–based team.
Even the second edition of the FAM-FAS Champions Series – FAM-FAS League Champions Cup and FAM-FAS Cup Champions Cup – that was to have been staged in June was cancelled without a warning or any reason given and spaces can be found on the fixtures list so talk of an overpacked schedule for failure is fool talk.
That why, 2006 can be looked back with a sense of what might have been as both Tampines Rovers and Home United trip up.
When the 2006 AFC Cup draw was make back in December 2005, much was expected of S-league Champions Tampines Rovers and Singapore Cup Champions Home United as both had the squad and experience to achieve much.
Unfortunately, by the time the first match kicked off, it was a different scenario for Home United as ravaged by injuries and the shockingly departures of playmaker Gabor Boer, before the Hungarian even kicked a ball, and then follow by fellow Hungarian defender Checzy Zoltan and Thai midfielder Anuruck Srikerd meant the Protectors were beyond strength.
Home United could not replace the departed foreigners with the player registration closed thus leaving Thai international Sutee Suksomkit as the only foreign player in Home United squad.
The much weaken Home United fell to
As for two-time league Champions Tampines Rovers, they also endure a disappointing start to the new campaign as they went down 1-0 to Malaysia Treble Champions Selangor in KL, like the previous year when they had also started on a losing note, but with an established squad that had both experience and abilities, it looked a case of when and not if the league champions would stage their fight back.
That was the case as in the second round of games; Tampines Rovers destroy Hong Kong side
Home United also staged a comeback as they went to Hong Kong Mongkok Stadium to snatch back a valuable 0-1 win against
But in an indication of Home United yo-yo form this season, the Protectors went down to
The Stags though was not in as charitable mood as the Protectors, dispatching the Maldives side New Radiant 3-1 at home and 0-4 away and the fate of reaching the knockout stage was in the League Champions own hands as they needed to secure a win against Selangor in the next encounter at the Tampines Stadium to reach the top.
A last-minute drama was played out as Singapore dissolve it parliament and held an election and the Tampines Stadium was allocated as a venue for a rally and the match against Selangor was to have been switched to Jalan Besar Stadium, which had an artificial pitch that the Stags were not comfortable playing on.
Tampines Rovers appeal and PAP, the party that booked the venue for that day, agreed to give up it slot for the game.
The effort spend to secure Tampines Stadium was not wasted as Tampines Rovers replaced Selangor at the top of Group after they overcame the Malaysian side 3-2 at Tampines Stadium.
Stags striker Mirko Grabovac’s strike on the hour – the team’s third goal – proved the difference after Peres de Oliveira’s double was cancelled out by a brace from Bambang Pamungkas. The result nullified Selangor’s 1-0 victory over Tampines earlier in the competition, sending the S-League defending champions right to the top based on overall goal difference.
This leaves them just one win away from reaching the quarterfinals, which can be clinched if they beat Hong Kong side
Peres De Oliveira was influential in the outcome as the Brazilian broke the deadlock after latching on to a long punt from Rezal Hassan and prodding the ball home off Azlisham Ib Berahim’s trailing leg to give Stags a first half lead. Even before Selangor could settle down properly for the second, they found themselves another goal behind six minutes after the break. Aliff did just enough in the middle of the park to push a pass towards Alam Shah at left wing before he was brought down by a Selangor defender, but with the momentum clearly building up, Alam Shah opted to play on and charge towards the touchline. The national striker then floated a perfect cross towards an unmarked Oliveira, who headed the ball straight into the back of the net with the entire Selangor defence caught out of position.
Needing at least a draw to secure qualification for the quarterfinals, Dollah went for a double substitution that led to a change of luck for Selangor. Brian Fuentes delivered a neat cross in the on the hour mark after being given generous space on the right flank, and lurking in the box was Bambang, who struck a crisp volley straight into the bottom corner of the net to make it 1-2.
But Grabovac restored the hosts’ two-goal cushion just three minutes later, latching on to Oliveira’s right-sided cross before unleashing a powerful shot to beat Azlisham.
Driven to desperation, Dollah made one final gamble with his remaining swap. On came Elie Aiboy to provide new creative inspiration, and he wasted little time to do his job. An 82nd-minute cross on the right was just high enough to beat the entire Stags defence, leaving Bambang with a clear header from the far post to double his personal tally.
A tense finish then ensued as Selangor kept throwing men forward in search of their late leveller, but Tampines Rovers managed to hold on and looked set to finish top and secure a quarter-final slot.
That was what Tampines Rovers did in the next match as they destroyed
For Home United, it was a different story as one disaster lead to another as they went down to Perlis 0-1 away to end their outside chance of winning top spot or even a best runner-up slot and it was miserable month of May as they were also knocked out of the Singapore Cup and fading away in the S-league.
It was no surprise Home United could not muster the strength to even win their final group game as the Protectors went down 0-2 to a highly-motivated Sun Hei who were aiming for a quarter-final slot.
The road for Tampines Rovers did not last much longer as they encounter Jordan League Champions Al Wihdat in the quarter-final and despite reinforcements with quality players like Aide Iskandar and Ahamd Latiff during the transfer window, the Jordan side was clearly a class above with a 5-0 overall win against the Stags.
Western Asian clubs is proving a tougher nut to crack and talk about a packed schedule being too big a disadvantage by Tampines Rovers is a smokescreen but there is no way to close gap on Western Asia other than to continue playing them and not avoiding them.
The road next year and even the many years after that will always be blocked by Western Asian clubs and S-league must be ready to face this test to improve on the Asian stage.
AFC Cup 2006 – Tampines Rovers
Stage | Home Team | Away Team | Date | ||
Group | Selangor ( | 1 | 0 | Tampines Rovers | 17/3/2006 |
Group | Tampines Rovers | 3 | 1 | Happy Valley (HK) | 21/3/2006 |
Group | Tampines Rovers | 3 | 1 | Hurriya ( | 11/4/2006 |
Group | Hurriya ( | 0 | 4 | Tampines Rovers | 25/4/2006 |
Group | Tampines Rovers | 3 | 2 | Selangor ( | 2/5/2006 |
Group | Happy Valley (HK) | 0 | 4 | Tampines Rovers | 16/5/2006 |
Quarter-final, first leg | Tampines Rovers | 0 | 1 | Al Wihdat ( | 12/9/2006 |
Quarter-final, second leg | Al Wihdat ( | 4 | 0 | Tampines Rovers | 19/9/2006 |
Tampines Rovers Scorers
6 goals | Noh Alam Shah |
3 goals | Aliff Shafaein, Peres De Oliviera |
2 goals | Rafi Ali, Mirko Grabovac |
1 goal | Ibrahim Noh |
AFC Cup 2006 – Home United
Stage | Home Team | Away Team | Date | ||
Group | Home United | 2 | 3 | Perlis ( | 7/3/2006 |
Group | Sun Hei (HK) | 0 | 1 | Home United | 21/3/2006 |
Group | New Radiant ( | 5 | 3 | Home United | 11/4/2006 |
Group | Home United | 2 | 0 | New Radiant ( | 25/4/2006 |
Group | Perlis ( | 1 | 0 | Home United | 2/5/2006 |
Group | Home United | 0 | 2 | Sun Hei (HK) | 16/5/2006 |
Home United Scorers
4 goals | Egmar Gonclaves |
3 goals | Indra Sahdan |
1 goal | Rosman Sulaiman |
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