Youthful Albirex continue where seniors left off
Yeo Kheng Hui
Writer
An inexperienced Albirex Niigata side featuring Singapore international Adam Swandi defeated Tampines Rovers 2-1 on Saturday, 31st March, to pick up the 2018 Singapore Premier League Community Shield.
Apart from 39-year-old veteran goalkeeper Yosuke Nozawa, the White Swans squad was aged between 19 and 23. Hiroyoshi Kamata, the other survivor from last season, was all of 21 years old.
Juergen Raab's side, on the other hand, included Singapore stalwarts Daniel Bennett, Fahrudin Mustafic, and Fazrul Nawaz with the likes of Khairul Amri, Madhu Mohana, and Jordan Webb on the bench.
The veteran defenders helped keep Tampines alive in a frantic opening which saw Kamata force a save from Syazwan Buhari with three minutes on the clock.
Throughout the first half, speedy midfielder Ryujiro Yamanaka found and exploited pockets of space. First, on seven minutes, when he dashed through on the left but lacked a target to find in the box. Then in the 24th, he picked up a Wataru Murofushi pass in the centre, broke free, and fired just wide. On 32 minutes, he beat a chasing Safirul Sulaiman on the right, and drew a foul for which Safirul was booked.
Perhaps heartened by Albirex' wasted efforts, Tampines created a few of their own before the break.
Safirul found himself some space going forward, cut into the centre, but skied his effort.
Then Irwan Shah closed off the half with a dipping cross from the right, picking out Fazrul at the far post, but the striker was offside.
Somehow, the first half ended 0-0.
Raab reorganised the midfield during the break, and Tampines looked a different side. Webb came on for Zulfadhmi Suzliman on the left.
Just five minutes in, tiny Taku Morinaga collected the ball in midfield. He played it into the path of Kenya Takahashi, who found Shuhei Hoshino in the box, but Syazwan saved.
Sensing Tampines' growing composure, Albirex head coach Kazuaki Yoshinaga brought on Adam Swandi for the shackled Yamanaka in the 52nd minute.
Albirex unsettled their opponents, winning a penalty from a long corner kick taken just shy of the hour. Morinaga put the hosts 1-0 up.
In response, Khairul Amri was brought on to replace Fazrul. With Webb and Amri combining effortlessly down the left, Tampines looked more like scoring.
The White Swans, having had another penalty shout denied and a through pass from Adam unmet, finally succumbed.
They conceded a corner on the left which was floated in for Tampines captain Mustafic, who headed home the equaliser in the 77th minute.
Tampines cranked up the pressure, with Ryutaro Megumi twice setting up Jordan Webb to come close. But it was the Japanese side that struck with just over a minute left.
Adam Swandi began a move on the left of midfield that swept inward to Hoshino, and this time the striker found the net.
Just as in 2017, Albirex beat Tampines 2-1 in the Community Shield, collecting the trophy from Singapore President Mdm Halimah Yacob.
After the match, Tampines head coach Raab noted that his charges had much to improve on.
Ominously, Albirex's Yoshinaga echoed that sentiment. He pointed out that if Albirex were to go on at this level for the rest of the season, they would not be able to achieve their goal.
 |
| Adam Swandi (right) fitting right in at Albirex Niigata (S), much to the chagrin of Tampines right wingback Irwan Shah (left). |
He lauded Adam's hard work, noting that the Singaporean "fit in well" as "part of the team", and looked forward to Shahul Rayyan joining in after his National Service obligations.
Yoshinaga shrugged off talk of silverware, pointing out that the players' career development was more important.
Comments
Post a Comment