Lion City Sailors focus on doing the job against Sanfrecce Hiroshima with ‘surprise’ 3-0 advantage

SINGAPORE – After almost two decades in professional football, Hariss Harun thought he had seen almost every possible scenario.

Yet, the 34-year-old Lion City Sailors captain finds himself in uncharted territory ahead of the Asian Champions League (ACL) Two quarter-final, second-leg match against Sanfrecce Hiroshima on March 12.

The midfielder, who began his career in 2007, will lead his team out at the Jalan Besar Stadium with an unexpected 3-0 aggregate advantage, despite the 6-1 thrashing by the Japanese side in the first leg in Hiroshima on March 5.

The J1 League side were punished for fielding an ineligible player in the first-leg win by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) disciplinary and ethics committee, which awarded the Sailors a 3-0 victory. Sanfrecce were also fined US$1,000 (S$1,330) and will forfeit half of their US$160,000 quarter-final participation fee.

French forward Valere Germain, who was supposed to be serving a three-match ban, was fielded as a substitute in the 69th minute and went on to score Sanfrecce’s fifth goal five minutes later.

Nevertheless, Hariss has reminded his teammates not to be complacent, despite having the edge.

“Yes we have an advantage now, but that means nothing if the result does not go our way tomorrow.

“We are not getting ahead of ourselves. There is nothing to be happy about in this situation. We are all about business and we still need to do the job,” he said at the pre-match press conference at the Sailors’ Mattar Road training centre on March 11.

The Singapore national captain said the situation was something new for him, although he experienced a similar incident in 2015 when his then team, Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) of Malaysia, were presented with a final berth in the AFC Cup after Fifa suspended the Kuwait Football Association for government interference.

JDT’s tie against Kuwait’s Qadsia SC, who held a 3-1 semi-final, first-leg lead, was subsequently cancelled and the Malaysian side went on to beat Tajikistan’s Istiklol 1-0 in the final.

Hariss said: “You cannot really compare (those situations). Then we were in the final, but here we still have a game to play. Obviously, the feeling then and now is different.”

While he empathised with his opponents, Sailors coach Aleksandar Rankovic stressed that his players will not just sit deep and defend against a side that he said are the best his team have faced in his tenure.

He said: “Honestly, we were surprised. If we’re talking purely from a sporting perspective, is it fair? No. Let me be clear, I wouldn’t be happy about it.

“But these are the rules and I feel sorry about the situation, because we don’t want to win like this.”

The Serb added: “We’re not going to defend for 90 minutes. You have to offer something (in attack) against this kind of opponent, otherwise they will just run you over. We have a plan, and I hope it is going to work.”

Rankovic’s caution is understandable, as Sanfrecce arrived in Singapore looking like a team on a mission.

Having run riot in wintry weather in the first leg, the visitors must now contend with the humid conditions, an unfamiliar artificial pitch and a passionate home crowd, with almost 70 per cent of tickets having been sold a day before the match.

But judging from the spiky responses from coach Michael Skibbe in the pre-match conference, his players will no doubt be feeling a sense of injustice.

Skibbe, an ex-Germany assistant national coach who has also helmed the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and Greece, wore a stoic expression throughout the press conference. When asked if the team were extra motivated, his response was simply: “We are always motivated.”

When pressed on how he and his team are feeling, the German cut off the question and remarked: “You’ll get the same answer.”

He then added, with a hint of reluctance: “We are fully focused on tomorrow evening’s match and are happy to be here.”

The winners of the tie will face a two-legged semi-final in April against Australia’s Sydney FC or South Korea’s Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. Sydney lead 2-0 after the first leg.