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Young Lions and Woodlands all set for kickoff
Paul Green
info@sleague.com
The 2010 Great Eastern-YEO’S S.League kicks off on Monday with an enticing fixture at Jalan Besar Stadium, where hosts Young Lions take on a new-look Woodlands Wellington.
Both coaches, Young Lions’ V. Sundrammoorthy and Woodlands’ A. Shasi Kumar, have very good reasons for wanting to get off to a good start, and it is a game that has the makings of a classic.
On show will be the talented Young Lions, many of them fresh from their SEA Games bronze medal success in Laos, plus two new Korean signings set to make their debut for Sundram’s men.
Sundram and his coaching team had taken a look at three Korean players who previously featured with the Super Reds last season, and all impressed in pre-season games and training.
“We’d like to have taken all three, but we only had two slots left,” explained Sundram on the eve of the match.
The under-23 side eventually settled for lively attacker Seo Su Jong and defender Kim Seong Kyu, having to let the other man, Park Kang Jin, go.
In addition, the team will have a number of other new players this season, with skilful midfield linkman Luka Savic one of the more promising among them.
The tall and skilful Savic, who is from Serbia, had spent some time at Barcelona and came to Singapore for trials at the end of last season.
A few players who had spent some time at senior level last term, like Khairul Nizam and Eugene Luo, are also getting rave reviews already from their outings in pre season friendlies.
Sundram, however, advised that Nizam won’t be playing in the opening match, though all the others will be in contention.
“Nizam got a knock when we had a game amongst ourselves recently, but he should be back fairly soon,” he reported.
“I feel all the boys are ready to get off to a good start. They know the importance of this opener as we face a difficult away match at Clementi Stadium against Home United after this, and we will definitely be looking for three points against Woodlands on Monday.”
The Woodlands coaching duo of Shasi and assistant Hasrin Jailani, a former Rams stalwart in midfield, have prepared well for the start of the new campaign. Between themselves, they have worked hard to knock the team into shape.
The northerners wound up preparations for this opening game with an impressive 3-2 win over Geylang United a week ago at Bedok Stadium.
While not entirely happy with the defence that day and missing last season’s skipper, Azlan Alipah, through suspension for the first competitive match of the year, Shasi is expecting his team to fire right away.
He will have new skipper Mohd Noor Ali on board and welcomes back prolific striker Abdelhadi Laakkad after a year in Morocco recovering from a previous injury, with a number of other new players boosting the ranks of the Rams.
Former Albirex Niigata (Singapore) defender, 25-year-old Kazuki Yoshino, joins a rearguard that includes Winston Yap and Chilean utility clubman Luis Eduardo Hicks.
“We are all looking forward very much to this first game,” said Shasi.
“We don’t know much about the Young Lions this year, but we will play our own game and we especially want to make this one count as we are not in action again until the 18th.
“We’ll be going all out for the three points and there are no injuries to report,” he declared.
Woodlands will not be lacking firepower, with Noor Ali and Laakkad joined by former SAFFC squad member Guntur Djafril who has looked sharp in pre-season outings.
And if Yoshino produces some of his explosive shooting, there is going to be no shortage of goals this time around for the Rams, whose shot-shyness has almost been a byword since Laakkad was last with them two seasons ago.
No doubt the Woodlands fans will be hoping the switch from Albirex by Yoshino will be as successful as the move by the player’s former team mate Taisuke Akiyoshi to the Warriors.
That lively youngster has shown up well already in the Asian Champions League qualifier for SAFFC, and Yoshino looks like getting more people sitting up and taking notice this year too, in the colours of the Rams.
Sundram has not settled on his starting eleven yet, waiting to see how things go at the team’s final Sunday night training session before naming his side.
The experience and guile and a good mix of young and senior players from Woodlands, matched with the exuberance and talent of the Young Lions, make for a mouth-watering start to the new season. |
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