Tampines out of AFC Champions League
Poor Tampines defending sees them drop to AFC Cup
| GLOBAL FC | TAMPINES ROVERS |
| 2 | 0 |
Tampines Rovers' AFC Champions League dreams were dashed after they were beaten 2-0 by Filipino side Global FC in a preliminary qualifier at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila last night.
The hosts started brightly and edged a first half that saw them work the ball into dangerous areas and call Tampines custodian Izwan Mahbud into action on two occasions.
In the 16th minute, the Singapore international was pleased to see a Misagh Bahadoran effort hit straight at him, and 20 minutes later, Izwan did well to palm away a glancing header from Global midfielder Dennis Villanueva.
The Stags were not without chances of their own, threatening on the break, with left winger Ryutaro Megumi a thorn in the Global side.
The Japanese drew a fine save from Global goalkeeper Patrick Deyto in the 41st minute, after being released by Singapore international Khairul Amri.
But Tampines could not stem the Global tide, and conceded just after the hour mark when Ahamad Azzawi fired high past Izwan after being found by Bahadoran.
The duo combined again to stun the Stags in the 73rd minute, as Ahamad turned provider for Global skipper Bahadoran, who fired home from just outside the box.
Tampines were presented with a late opportunity to drag themselves back into the game, but Amri saw his 90th-minute penalty tipped onto the bar after Shakir Hamzah was fouled.
SLOPPY DEFENDING
It was not the miss, but his team's sloppy defending that earned the ire of Tampines coach Akbar Nawas.
"We should have defended better. Individually we could have defended and stopped those goals," he said.
But he was still able to draw positives from the match.
He said: "We are still early in our pre-season phase, and this is like training overseas... hopefully this experience will help us get off to a good start to the S.League season back home."
While the Stags head home, Global will play the A-League's Brisbane Roar away next Tuesday.
If they survive the Australian test, they will meet a Carlos Tevez-led Shanghai Shenhua for a spot in the AFC Champions League group stage.
After seeing his side become the first Filipino team to be involved in the competition, Bahadoran said: "I'm so happy to be part for this, the biggest victory for a Filipino football club.
"It's amazing, I will be enjoying this until we go to Australia.
"We will see (how it goes) from there."
GLOBAL: Patrick Deyto, Jerry Barbaso, Paul Mulders (OJ Clarino 67), Dennis Villanueva, Amani Aguinaldo, Serge Kaole (Marco Casambre 85), Matthew Hartmann, Shu Sasaki, Ahamad Azawi, Hikaru Minegishi, Misagh Bahadoran
TAMPINES: Izwan Mahbud, Son Yong Chan, Daniel Bennett, Madhu Mohana, Shakir Hamzah, Mustafic Fahrudin (Jufri Taha 74), Ismadi Mukhtar (Irwan Shah 87), Yasir Hanapi, Ryutaro Megumi, Ivan Dzoni (Fazli Ayob 87), Khairul Amri.
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