Match Preview: Eunos And Sporting Westlake Lock Horns In Division One Opener
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| Eunos Crescent FC with the NFL Division 1 trophy last season. Photo: Eunos Crescent Football Club |
Aaron ChanWriter / Editor
The Unofficial S.League Podcast
sleaguepodcast@gmail.com
The 2017
NFL Division 1 will kick off this coming Saturday (22 April 2017) with a crunch
match between defending champions Eunos Crescent and the second runners-up of
last season, GFA Sporting Westlake.
Both teams
have seen large shake-ups to their squad lists with Eunos losing six players to
the up-and-coming Yishun Sentek Mariners during the off season while Sporting
Westlake has retained only six players from their 2016 campaign.
Eunos have wasted
no time in the weeks leading up to the new season, boosting their ranks with
former S.League players Lau Meng Meng, Goh Swee Swee (both formerly of Hougang
United), and what must be the marquee capture for the NFL this season – former Singapore
international Indra Sahdan Daud. The 38 year old Indra, who has 113 caps and
almost 250 goals in all competitions, will be playing for Eunos under the club’s
mentor slot.
The champions’ squad list is nothing short of spectacular with captain Jonathan Xu and Tengku Mushadad both seasoned campaigners during their respective times in the S.League, and Eunos coach Mohamed Mardani is spoilt for choice with the slate of promising youngsters at his disposal like defender Indra Hafriefendy and attacking midfielders Firdaus Junadi and Osman Shainin, the latter which left a deep impression during the pre-season with his explosive pace and outstanding ball control.
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| Indra Sahdan in Eunos Crescent's training kit Photo: Eunos Crescent Football Club |
The champions’ squad list is nothing short of spectacular with captain Jonathan Xu and Tengku Mushadad both seasoned campaigners during their respective times in the S.League, and Eunos coach Mohamed Mardani is spoilt for choice with the slate of promising youngsters at his disposal like defender Indra Hafriefendy and attacking midfielders Firdaus Junadi and Osman Shainin, the latter which left a deep impression during the pre-season with his explosive pace and outstanding ball control.
Speaking to
The Unofficial S.League Podcast, Eunos Crescent team manager Darwin Jalil was
looking forward to the new season. “The NFL would be exciting both on and off the
pitch this season. There are so many initiatives taking place which will boost
the competition and many teams have also revamped their squads to adapt to the
ever changing landscape of Singapore football. Eunos Crescent will definitely
be putting up our best effort to retain the NFL Division 1 title.”
Darwin is
also looking forward to watching his team back in action after the long pre-season
break. “The attacking quartet of Indra Sahdan, Jonathan Xu, Osman Shainin and
Goh Swee Swee will definitely be the key highlight of our squad this season.” said
the jovial 32 year old, who is also the club president of Eunos Crescent FC and
a former member of the Singapore Rugby Team.
Off the
pitch, Eunos Crescent has also been making waves by obtaining a sponsorship from
PSB Academy, which will be working with Eunos’s team members to
explore options for higher education off the field, as well as signing a Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU) with VVV-Venlo, who just gained promotion to the Eredivisie,
the highest echelon of football in the Netherlands. The MOU will see a players
and coaches exchange between both clubs in September this year.
Sporting Westlake,
on the other hand, is in the process of rebuilding their team after seeing
players like Zul Feshal - who was the club’s top scorer with 17 goals last
season - and goalkeeper Asyraf Asyfar depart for Yishun and coach Akihiro
Nakamura will be placing his faith in a
relatively new team boasting plenty of fresh faces.
The club, which
was formed in 1973 in Westlake Avenue and played in the Toa Payoh area (hence
the name Sporting Westlake), is affiliated with the Japanese-owned Global
Football Academy (GFA), giving rise to their nickname, The Young Samurais. The
Oriental connection however, does not just end with coach Nakamura as this
season’s squad will include two Japanese imports, one of which is 25 year old
attacking midfielder Yuto Nagai, who has been with the club since 2015 and
featured in that season’s League Cup campaign against Albirex Niigata and Home
United.
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| GFA Sporting Westlake Squad Photo: Global Football Academy |
GFA
Sporting Westlake’s player under the mentor slot is 43 year old Jumari Semin, one
of the most experienced players in the NFL while the Young Samurais have also
retained skipper Hakim Abdullah, who turned out for the Singapore U16s in the
Lion City Cup in the 90s, along with Na’eem Malek.
Sporting
Westlake club secretary Zairi Ahmari was candid about his thoughts for the
upcoming season: “We do not want to put too much pressure on ourselves even
though we finished third in the 1st Division last season. Our
players know that they have everything to play for and that they will be
rewarded well if the team performs.”
The
Unofficial S.League Podcast understands that last season’s cohort was treated
to an overseas trip to Vietnam after finishing as second runners-up and the
club’s generous treatment of its players would no doubt give them extra motivation to play well.
The match
between the two kicks off at 7:30pm at Jalan Besar Stadium and it should be an
interesting affair as it would set the tone for what promises to be an exciting
NFL season up ahead.
In the
other match happening on the same day, the NFL Division 2 season opener will
see Warwick Knights will take on Kembangan United earlier at Jalan Besar as
well. The Warwick – Kembangan encounter kicks off at 5pm and admission is free
for both matches.
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