SAFFC in the Champions league (Part 2)

In 2009 Singapore Armed Forces FC (SAFFC) became the first local team to reach the group stage of the Asian Champions league. In 2010, following their 4th successive league title, SAFFC's aim was to build on the previous year’s continental performances and establish the club as the region’s leading team.

To achieve these goals Richard Bok’s new look squad included 10 new signings including Singapore internationals Indra Sahdan and Noh Rahman. Swedish international Niklas Sandberg was perhaps the biggest new name. The 31-year-old defensive midfielder had helped CFR Cluj win the Romanian championship in 2007, Stabæk IF lift the Norwegian league title in 2008 and FK Haugesund to the Norwegian second division title in 2009. Towering Croatian centre-half Ivan Lovric, former Albirex Niigata midfielder Taisuke Akiyoshi and Uruguayan striker Federico Martínez were the other 3 foreign signings. Martinez was bought in to replace three-time defending S-League top-scorer and club captain Aleksandar Duric, whose relationship with SAFFC had soured after he looked to engineer a failed move to Indonesian champions Sriwijaya.

In a twist of fate, SAFFC’s first opponent in the ACL qualifying round was the club that had unsettled Duric, Indonesian champions Sriwijaya. The team from Palembang had played in the 2009 ACL group stage and had managed a win against Shandong Luneng. But in 2010 they were struggling in league and in the middle of a financial crisis that had seen many of the players go months without getting paid. SAFFC took an early lead in the 7th minute when new signing Taisuke Akiyoshi scored with a thunderous volley after some poor defending left him completely unmarked. It took an hour for SAFFC to put the game beyond doubt. Christian Warobay was sent off for a poor challenge in the box on the ever threatening Akiyoshi and, at the second time of asking, it was another new signing, Federico Martínez who put the Singaporean champions 2-0 up. SAFFC were awarded another penalty in the 89th minute and this time Indra, another new signing stepped up. He saw his first effort saved but the keeper was deemed to have moved too soon so the spot kick was retaken. Indra made no mistake the second tme sending Feri Rotinsulu the wrong way and making it 3-0.

A week later hotly tipped Thai Champions Muangthong United made the trip to Jalan Besar, confident that they could follow up their 3-0 victory over Danang in the previous game and book their place in the group stage. As expected Muangthong United dominated possession and created a lot of chances but were unable to make the breakthrough, so After 120 minutes the game went to penalties. Indra stepped up to take the first penalty for SAFFC and, in a repeat of the previous week, saw his spot kick saved before being allowed a second chance to send the keeper the wrong way. Wilkinson, Sandberg and Bennett went on the convert the next 3 penalties for SAFFC while Panupong Wongsa missed for Muangthong United. Up stepped Akiyoshi, who could send SAFFC through if he scored, who didn’t get enough power behind his penalty and saw it comfortably saved. Muangthong needed to convert their final kick to keep the game alive. Pakasit Saensook, who had never scored for Muangthong stepped up and promptly ballooned the ball high over the bar. Muangthong’s coach René Desaeyere bemoaned the one legged nature of the qualifying rounds, insisted his side were superior and dismissed the Singaporean team’s chances in the group stage. Nevertheless, it was SAFFC that advanced to the group stage of Asia’s number one club competition while Muangthong had to settle for a place in the AFC Cup and eventual defeat in the semi final to eventual winners Al-Ittihad.

SAFFC’s group had a familiar look about it and saw them drawn into Group G together with Japan's cup winners Gamba Osaka, Korean FA Cup winners Suwon Bluewings and China's Henan Jianye. The Chinese team were making their debut in the ACL having finished 3rd in the Chinese super league. SAFFC set up to frustrate and contain their Chinese opponents in the opening game of the group and, thanks to a combination of great goalkeeping from Shahril, poor finishing and a lot of help from the woodwork, SAFFC were able to hold out for a respectable 0-0 draw. The Chinese side managed 18 shots to SAFFC 4 and the 21,000 fans that watched must have left disappointed. The Singaporean’s had managed to equal their entire points total from the previous year in their first game and were more than satisfied with a job well done

Next up for SAFFC were Suwon Bluewings who also visited Jalan Besar in the previous season's group stage and won 0-2. SAFCC again looked to contain a Suwon team that included former Everton defender Li Weifeng and former Wigan midfielder Cho Won Hee and, despite offering very little going forward, almost managed to hang on until halftime. However, SAFFC gave away a freekick in added time at the end of the first half and free kick specialist Juninho Vendrechovski thundered in a magnificent freekick from 30 yards. Ivan Lovric dismissal after 56 minutes and Suwon’s superior stamina made a second goal inevitable and it came from another Brazilian, Jose Mota. A repeat of last season’s result and a wake up call for SAFFC.

2008 Champions League winners Gamba Osaka were next up for SAFFC and the Singaporean side put in a much improved performance. SAFFC adopted a much more attacking approach to the game but, after wasting an early opportunity, went behind in the 7th minute when Shoki Hirai scored his first of the night. Erwan gave the hosts hope when he equalised in the 30th minute and the sides went in all-square. Whatever plans Bok put in place at halftime had to be swiftly torn up when Hirai got his second of the night less than 20 seconds into the second half. SAFCC drew level for a second time less than 10 minutes later thanks to a headed goal from Sandberg who was left unmarked in the box and was able to get on the end of Ahmad Latiff’s free kick. However, any hope of grabbing an unexpected point evaporated when Sota Nakazawa gave Osaka the lead again followed by the sending off of Akiyoshi which left SAFFC chasing the game with 10 men for the second successive game. Gamba Osaka made their numerical superiority count and the impressive Hirai completed his hat-trick with an impressive solo goal in the 81st minute. SAFFC looked a threat on the counter attack and the two goals they scored were the most a Singaporean team had ever managed against Japanese opposition.

SAFFC made the trip to Japan a week later for the return leg against Gamba Osaka knowing that they were facing likely elimination from the tournament. SAFFC could not repeat the positive performance they put in at home and it was a one-sided match with Gamba having 20 shots on target in the first half alone. The Japanese side scored the opener in the 28th minute when defender Michihiro Yasuda received a short corner before dribbling into the area and slotting home an angled shot. Hat trick hero Shoki Hirai made it 2-0 in the 55th minute and Brazilian substitute Ze Carlos wrapped it up in injury time. SAFFC had fallen at the group stage with two games remaining and seemingly little improvement on last year’s performances.

With John Wilkinson back from injury and Taisuke Akiyoshi returning from suspension SAFFC welcomed Henan Jianye to a rain soaked Jalan Besar determined to put on a display for the 2,278 fans who had braved the rain to watch the last Champions League group game to be held in Singapore. Both teams created chances in the first half but failed to score. Bok replaced lone striker Indra at halftime with Erwan Gurnawan, a change that was to have a huge impact on the result. The deadlock was broken in the 65 minute by Daniel Bennett who, after some comedy defending, found himself on the end of an Ahmad Latiff free kick and gave the keeper no chance with his powerful finish. The goal sparked a frenetic 12 minute period that saw both teams throwing caution to the wind. 5 minutes of end to end football which saw both teams go close culminated in an equaliser when Yu Le to got on the end of a Leandro Netto pull back and finished smartly past Shahril into the bottom right corner. Henan looked on top and continued to pressure SAFFC but spurned two good chances in the next 5 minutes to take the lead and would soon regret these wasted chances. Against the run of play, SAFFC won a corner after some good work from Wilkinson. Latiff delivered another great set piece and it was substitute Erwan Gurnawan who climbed above the defenders and sent a bullet header flying into the back of the net to put SAFFC ahead. It was Erwan’s second goal in three champions league games, making him the highest scoring Singaporean in the competition. Henan piled on the pressure looking for an equaliser. Haunted by the memories of last season’s game against Shanghai Shenhua, this time SAFFC stood firm against repeated Henan attacks and held on for a historic victory. SAFFC climbed to third position in Group H after this win with four points from five games, while Henan Jianye sunk to the bottom of the group with just two points.

For SAFFC’s final game of the 2010 Champions league they headed to the Suwon World Cup stadium. Despite victory in the previous game, little was expected from the Singaporean team who had lost 3-1 on their last visit to Suwon. However it was SAFFC that took an unexpected lead after 5 minutes when Federico Martinez’s split the Suwon defence before curling an excellent shot into the far corner from outside the box. It was a fine finish and earned the lanky striker the ACL goal of the month. Despite the early goal SAFFC were outclassed by the Korean team. At halftime it was 4-1 and, despite Ivan Lovric scoring a second goal for the SAFFC the Koreans were just too strong and ended up winning 6-2.

The defeat turned out to be SAFFC’s last appearance in the ACL as the FAS pulled out of the tournament after rule changes made it impossible for the Singaporean league to meet new criteria around foreign teams playing in domestic leagues. Two memorable seasons in the ACL also proved to be a high point for Singapore Armed Forces FC who would only win the league again in 2014 before dropping out of the league completely prior to the 2020 season. A Singaporean team is scheduled to appear in the 2021 Asian Champions League group stage and it will be interesting to see if any local team can surpass the 4 points that SAFFC achieved in 2010, the last time that a Singaporean team took on Asia on the biggest stage.

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