Honestly speaking this hastily-arranged fixture came as a surprise to me when I was told the
"Uniform Duo" (SAFFC and Home United)be playing against each other at Jalan Besar on the New Year's
eve.
John Wilkinson (left) skippered Protectors against his old clubAfter all, not all the teams have
started their pre-season training and let alone if DPMM's status is officially confirmed despite
the earlier report on Asean Football Federation website (AFF).
Tweet courtesy of "@LigaSingapura"
Undoubtedly, the most successful coach in Tampines Rovers Football Club since the inception of the
S.League in 1996 - Vorawan Chitavanich had stepped down as the club's Technical Director and
decided to head home to Thailand.
The timing of his departure could not have come to a rather bumpy timing when the Stags are facing
sticky patches of late after ACL injuries to star players such as 'keeper Hassan Sunny and defender
Park Yo Seb that effectively rule them out of the rest of the campaign.
Prelude...
I'm not being unprofessional for placing this uncompleted team shot of the visiting Hanoi T & T
(pictured above) before the start of their AFC Cup match against Tampines Rovers, as their star
striker Le Cong Vinh abruptly left the field to have his boots changed before the shot was taken
(much to our "disappointment").
Tampines Rovers (in yellow) gave themselves a good account against their much-fancied Thai
opponents, Muangthong United (in red top), in this AFC Cup Group G encounter at the Jalan Besar
Stadium.
The Stags managed to absorb the Twin-Qilins' slow turbo play up front, while catch them on the
break, which worked in 23rd minute when veteran Aleksandar Duric finished off the ball in the box
following a latched-on pass off a Hassan Sunny's drop-kick.
Having saw what he tweeted in the first place, I prompted Mr Neo Chee Seong (who contributed an
article last month) to come up with his list of players to fill up the vacuum after the disband of
the Singapore National Team.
Many thanks to Mr Neo for sharing his views on this issue.
Potential Players with Merits to be selected for Singapore National Squad.
