THEY may be king in the S-League but just cannot lord it over other teams in Asia.

For the second year running in the AFC Cup, Tampines Rovers lost their opening fixture last night.

Vietnam's Saigon Xuan Thanh, who face match-fixing allegations back home, were the deserved 3-2 victors in the Group H clash at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

As for the S-League champions, similar dismal displays will surely see them booted out at the group phase like last season, when they won just one of their six matches.

Late strikes from Singapore international forwards Khairul Amri and Aleksandar Duric added respectability to the scoreline for the hosts who were trailing by three goals at one stage.

The AFC Cup is the continent's second-best club competition.