A WIN for second-placed Home United and they will almost certainly lift
the NTUC Income-Yeo’s S-League 2007 title.
All league leaders SAFFC need is one point, and they will in all
probability defend their league crown.
There is so much at stake when the two teams meet this Friday at Bishan
Stadium, in what has been billed as the match of the season.
Both sides will have just one game to go after the clash – Home will visit
Geylang United next week while SAFFC will host Gombak United – and look
quite capable of winning their respective matches. So it almost certainly
comes down to the 90 minutes on Friday.
Both camps were in upbeat mood yesterday.
Protectors’ coach Vincent Subramaniam held a special training session for
the players who will fill in for his four Lions – Shahril Ishak, Shi
Jiayi, Indra Sahdan and Lionel Lewis – away on World Cup qualifying duty.
“We wished all the national team players farewell and good luck after
Sunday’s win over Balestier. Now, we are concentrating on plugging the
holes in our midfield,” said Vincent.
“We won’t have Qiu Li also after he picked up another yellow card on
Sunday, so there’s a lot of thinking to do.
“But we don’t need to work the rest of the players hard on the training
field now. It is mental preparation that’s important at this stage.”
Vincent insisted home ground advantage would count for little on Friday.
“I really think they (SAFFC) have the upper hand with their talented
foreigners and the fact that they have not had a game since Nov 5,” he
said.
“Since they played at Woodlands last Monday, they will have had 11 days
rest by the time Friday comes, while we are still recovering from our
match on Sunday.”
SAFFC coach Richard Bok was only interested in how his men were doing and
he was happy to report the Warriors’ were up for the battle ahead,
especially after the recovery of their Thai star.
After struggling with a thigh injury for a few weeks, midfielder Therdsak
Chaiman came through a practice game yesterday showing no ill effects.
“We didn’t play him against Woodlands last week to give him time to
recover from his injury as he needed the rest,” said Bok. “All is good for
us now and we just have to go to Bishan and do our job. It now comes down
to hunger and desire, it is about how much the players want the
championship.”
“While a draw at Bishan will suit us, we will go there to win. We want to
win both our remaining games,” he insisted.
Meanwhile, in last night’s S-League match, Albirex Niigata beat Liaoning
Guangyuan 2-0 at Jurong East Stadium.
A first-half brace from 19-year-old striker Akira Takase ensured the three
points for the home side. – Paul Green