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New-look SAFFC get down to business
The much-awaited new signings of SAFFC finally made their appearance at Choa Chu Kang Stadium this week.
It won’t be difficult to spot them during the team’s training as most of them stand literally head and shoulders above the rest.
Croatian defender Ivan Lovric (above, centre) towers above them all at 1.94m while Uruguayan striker Federico Martinez (above, left) stands at 1.91m.
The third, Swedish defender/defensive midfielder Niklas Sandberg, 31, who played for AIK Stockholm, Helsingborgs IF and Romania’s CFR Cluj, is 1.89m tall. He had just flown back to his country for his wedding.
Japanese midfielder Taisuke Akiyoshi (above, right), who played for Albirex Niigata (Singapore) in the last two seasons, completes the quartet of new foreigners. The Warriors have also retained winger Park Tae Won for next season.
Another new signing, midfielder Rhysh Roshan Rai of Balestier Khalsa, is also hard to miss. He stands at 1.90m tall. He was there with two other new signings from Woodlands Wellington, left-back Syaiful Iskandar and goalkeeper Rezal Hassan, who is returning to the Warriors as a player-coach.
Croatian defender Lovric, 24, whose last club was Hungarian first division side Kecskemeti TE, was introduced by former Warriors captain Nenad Bacina, who served the club with distinction from 2000 to 2004 and returned to Singapore to coach Woodlands this season.
Said Lovric: “I have heard good things about here, read about it on the Internet and now I’ve seen it for myself. We have been working very hard and we want to win the league and the cup, and also do well in the AFC Champions League.
“This is a very important tournament for us and we have to play very, very hard because we are representing Singapore.”
Martinez, 25, and Akiyoshi, 20, don’t speak much English but nonetheless communicated their desire to win very well. They were seen drenched in sweat after training in cool weather, just like the rest of their teammates. Martinez had plyed his trade in Brazil (Cabofriense, 2009) and Chile (Antofagasta, 2008) after turning out Rampla Juniors (2004 to 2007) in the top Uruguayan division.
So far so good, was coach Richard Bok’s assessment of the new foreigners.
“They’re technically good. We have done some running and played small-sided games where Martinez has shown some good movements. I’m looking forward to training on the big pitch where I can see more of Lovric in defensive situations and also how the team plays as a whole. It will be exciting to see how these players combine.”
Those who are eager to catch the new-look team in action won’t have to wait too long.
A friendly match has been scheduled at 5pm on 27th Dec against Singapore Cricket Club (SCC) at the Padang.
SCC, with former S.League players like Tan Kim Leng, Eric Kwek and Ong Leong Koen in its ranks, won’t be an unfamiliar proposition. They just won the NFL Division One and Singapore Pools FA Cup this season.
*Picture and story courtesy of www.safwarriors.com.sg |
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