J. J. Muniandy
info@sleague.com
Pray for Japan.
And that is what they did at Jurong East Stadium. Players and coaching staff from both Albirex Niigata (Singapore) and Etoile FC, together with the 1,885 fans present, got together and showed us all why football is indeed the beautiful game.
The final score was a valuable 1-0 win to the Stars but rightfully, football took a back seat as the focus was on fund-raising activities following the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami which had struck Japan on 11 March.
Working together with the Football Association of Singapore, gate collections from the match will be handed to non-governmental organisation Civic Force, which specialises in emergency response to large scale natural disaster.
The Red Cross had also placed several donation boxes around the stadium, while the White Swans’ main sponsor Canon had set up a photo booth to sell matchday photos, where all proceeds from the sale went to the Civic Force.
Albirex head coach Koichi Sugiyama was moved by the support that has been shown to his countrymen.
“The situation (back in Japan) has been on our minds for the past one week,” he shared.
“We wanted to win this match for Japan and bring joy to everyone. The club and I are grateful to everyone who came down to support us and I want to thank all our fans. I would also like to thank Etoile FC for their support.”
His counterpart, Guglielmo Arena, was also effusive in his praise of the fans and the support that has been shown towards the Japanese.
“There was a strong solidarity between the French and the Japanese shown tonight by the players and fans,” said the Italian. “This was good for the spirit of the game.”
Despite the overflowing goodwill shown on the night, there was no fairytale ending for the White Swans.
Maxime Belouet broke Japanese hearts with a final-minute free kick that had the flailing Yoshita Matsushita grasping air.
In a game of very few clearcut chances, Arena was glad to have taken three valuable points in a tricky away game.
Two wins on the trot would have eased the rumoured pressure that he was facing from the club management, after a stuttering start to the season which included a scrappy 0-1 loss to Gombak United.
“Of course I am happy. I thought the game was going to end in a draw,” he confided afterwards.
“We started off slowly in the first half but I told my players to push harder and do better in the second period, which they did.
“It was a difficult game, as we had not played in ten days and it affected the players’ performance. It was vital to get the three points as it keeps us within reach of the league leaders.”
Arena would have also taken some consolation from the performance of debutant Franklin Anzite.
The lanky midfielder looked a class act from the the get-go as he played his enforcer role with panache. He bossed
the midfield proceedings and showed a soft touch to his passing abilities as he tried to pry open the the White Swans defence.
Albirex captain Shimpei Sakurada tried to counter the Frenchman’s influence, showcasing his long-range passing to great effect.
Unfortunately, he was unable to break the deadlock, despite being involved in many of the hosts’ best moves of the night.
The inability to take points off Tampines Rovers, Home United and now Etoile FC has dented the White Swans’ bold pre-season prediction of making the top three, but Sugiyama was not an entirely disappointed man.
“This is the best game the players have played this season,” remarked the 39-year-old.
“Most of the match was played in their half and we created a lot more chances than our opponents, especially in the second half. I want us to play like this more often.
“It is still early in the season with only five games played. There are another 28 more games to the season. There are many more things that the team needs to improve on, and I am going to work with the team to achieve our goals.
“I am confident that we can do better as we progress through the season,” concluded Sugiyama.
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