Spoils shared in even-tempered match

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Bhaskaran Kunju
info@sleague.com

Tampines Rovers and Muang Thong United played out an evenly-fought AFC Cup Group G tie at Jalan Besar Stadium in front of 1,975 enthusiastic supporters on Wednesday night.

Two first-half goals, eight minutes apart, from Aleksandar Duric and Phichitphong Choeichiu ensured both sides came away from the game with a point apiece and a shot at top spot in the group still intact.

The Stags could have come away from the game with three points had Duric not been found improbably profligate in the second half, when the striker squandered three key chances.

But the Tampines captain would have taken heart in still having done enough to ruffle the feathers of newly-installed Muang Thong coach Henrique Calisto.

Calisto had tagged Duric as a key threat to his team at the pre-match conference the day earlier, and had jokingly promised to “kill him” on the field.

The fact that Muang Thong had not lived up to his expectations, thus, clearly had an effect on him.

At the post-match conference, when asked on whether his team had done enough to successfully contain the Singapore international, he grew visibly agitated.

“He scored one goal but he missed three more,” said the bespectacled coach, initially exuding calmness.

“But yet, he got chances! And this was after I said he was dangerous!

“It was indisciplined tactics! Indisciplined tactics! No more! With me here there will be no more!”

Calisto’s source of agitation could however be traced back to an earlier question from a Muang Thong representative, who had pressed him on his team’s recent lack of victories away from home.

Having started the press conference in calm mood, praising the ability of both sides and acknowledging the possibility of victory going either way, he had initially declared the result as ‘fair’.

But when faced with the question and some further probing from his translator on the overall performance of his team, Calisto launched into a tirade, perhaps feeling the pressure due to the numerous Muang Thong television cameras around.

“If you ask me if I’m satisfied, I’m not satisfied,” he said with a huge sigh.

“I think we can play better. We cannot do (with) some mistakes; the first goal we conceded because we lost concentration.

“So if you ask me if I must work harder, then yes, I must work harder! If you ask me if I want to change something, then yes, I want to change something!”

The Portuguese even pointed out the most pressing issue he intended to work on.

“More disciplined tactics, more disciplined tactics! The players cannot do what they want!”

The match, for the most part, looked destined to end in a stalemate with both teams looking well-matched for each other, though it was the Twin Qilins who had more control of the ball, pressing Tampines into their own half for long periods.

But their dominance in possession barely translated to clear-cut opportunities, with the Stags defence stubbornly holding firm.

The Thai side were the first to threaten to score though, the first serious chance coming fifteen minutes into the game.

Christian Yao Kouakou’s low shot from outside the box came back off the upright, having beaten Hassan Sunny.

It was still a surprise, then, when Duric broke the deadlock on 23 minutes, as the Stags had barely been able to penetrate the Thai half.

The 40-year-old kept his cool as he picked up a long clearance from Hassan and raced into the penalty box with no one ahead of him, before calmly slotting home to send the Tampines fans into rapture.

The joy was short-lived for the home side, though, and it took all of just eight minutes for the visitors to level the tie in spectacular fashion.

Phichitphong picked up an inconspicuous loose ball some thirty yards out from goal, and then fired a thundering first-time effort that powered past a fully-stretched Hassan and into the top right corner of his goal.

The Tampines custodian was nearly beaten again in similar fashion on the stroke of half-time when he had to turn away a similar effort from the goalscorer.

Muang Thong’s Ivorian duo of Kouakou and Siaka Dagno were meanwhile a constant threat, and it was the former who had the Stags defence looking hapless on the hour mark as he burst into their half and beat the entire backline before finally being matched by Hassan yet again.

But it was in the final thirteen minutes that the fate of the match looked to have fallen into the hands, or rather feet, of Duric, as he was presented on three different occasions the chance to nab all three points for his side.

His first was at the end of a wonderful exchange of passes between himself, Aliff Shafaein and Ahmad Latiff Khamarudin on a quick counter.

The forward found himself racing into the box on a one-on-one, but in trying to shoot with his stronger left foot he sacrificed a good angle and allowed Kawin Thamsatchanan to block his effort.

Then, remarkably, the veteran was handed a second opportunity from the resulting corner after Shahdan Sulaiman’s delivery dropped perfectly in front of him. But the big man’s first-time volley from inside the six-yard box was shockingly sent wide, much to the dismay of the player himself.

Finally, with the clock ticking down, the Tampines goalscorer was sent through for another straight showdown with Kawin. Having already been beaten once in a similar position, Kawin ensured victory in his personal battle against the Bosnian-born this time as Duric and the fans alike held their heads in disbelief.

The point earned at the end of the match, however, was well-received, especially by Stags coach Steven Tan.

“It was a tale of two halves,” said the freshman coach.

“I felt the match was at times slipping away, especially in the first half. But the commitment shown from the players was good and the players were great.”

The former Singapore international did not mince his words on the squandered opportunities, and expected Duric to be ‘annoyed’ with himself.

“We need to finish the chances,” he said in his usual cool demeanour.

“If those chances had gone in, it would have been a different game.”

Tampines Rovers: Hassan Sunny; Seiji Kaneko, Benoit Croissant, Park Yo Seb; Imran Sahib, Shukor Zailan (Aliff Shafaein 57’), Akihiro Nakamura, Shahdan Sulaiman, Ismadi Mukhtar; Ahmad Latiff Khamarudin, Aleksandar Duric.

Muang Thong United: Kawin Thamsatchanan; Pakasit Saensook, Panupong Wongsa, Natapong Phanrit, Kayem Weerawut; Christian Yao Kouakou, Siaka Dagno, Phichitphong Choeichiu, Jakkapan Pornsai (Amorn Thummanam 46’, Anon Sangsanoi 72’), Datsakorn Thonglao (Piyaphon Buntao 80’); Teerasil Dangda.