Leaving aside the ridiculous logo of our opponents, our Sailors’ foray into the Shopee Cup should be something we are excited about. While planning my away trips to support the team, I realised something – our Shopee Cup opponents are arguably harder than our ACL2 opponents. Funny, considering that ACL2 looks on paper to be the more prestigious tournament. More money on offer (ACL2’s USD2.5 million for the winner vs Shopee Cup’s USD500,000 for the winner), and also the chance to rub shoulders not only against ASEAN teams but also powerhouses from Japan, China and Korea.
Part of why we can’t really predict the outcome of continental matches with much accuracy is because we have limited experience at this level, plus teams are ever-changing. With all that said, let’s dive into the preview (but not like a constipated dolphin, just take a normal dive).
What Kind of Team is Borneo FC Samarinda?
Looking at this screenshot, I have to admit that I know close to nothing about Indonesia football. Lilipaly is a standout name of course, him having scored against Singapore in the 2016 AFF Cup, and been one of Indonesia’s most eye-catching players over the years.
But other than that, Rivaldo and Ronaldo are famous names but probably not the same people we immediately think of when you see those names, and then Fajar is just a place in Bukit Panjang.
However, I wish I could say that when I decided to read up on this team and watch them on Youtube, that they are a bunch of unknowns we should be capable of swatting aside with ease.
No. They seem to be a very good and well-organised team.
They did excellently in the President’s Cup a month ago, and while that may not be seen to be real silverware because it is more of a pre-season tournament, the players from all the teams took it seriously, and Borneo FC fielded their best 11. They qualified for the final, overcoming Persib Bandung and PSM Makassar in the group stages, beating Persija Jakarta in the semi-final, and then losing out on penalties to Arema FC in the final.
Throughout that run, they also showed real grit, battling to 90min and beyond. In their 5 games, they scored 3 goals in injury time in three different matches – twice to win the game and once to equalise.
Not easy to do, especially against the teams they came up against.
If there’s one small crumb of consolation – they seem to be quite susceptible to the counter-attack. If they push on with the home crowd behind them, perhaps we can exploit that. They will know that we thrive on transitions though, so I wonder if they will try to pick us off on the counter instead.
Dangermen
Of course, I speak from just watching some matches on Youtube, so please take this with a gigantic pinch of salt.
Longtime observers of the ASEAN scene will know all about Lilipaly’s quality. Much like Bart Ramselaar and Maxime Lestienne, he has spent some time in Dutch football. He was born there, joined the AZ Alkmaar academy, and eventually played in the Eredivisie in 2 separate spells. Now 34, he’s lost some zip, but his playmaking quality and threat on the ball is still evident when you watch him.
He seems to have quickly struck up an understanding with Berguinho and Gaucho. Berguinho reminds me of a B-rated Maxime Lestienne (I hope I do not regret saying this), while Gaucho is a cool, calm customer in front of goal.
They look like they have the tools to punish us should we slack off in defence.
Another thing to note about Borneo FC is they seem to cross the ball alot. Most of their goals have come from crosses, whether in open play or set pieces. Something to watch out for.
Tight Schedule – Tired Players?
Our Sailors play 3 games in 8 days. If Coach Ranko hasn’t rotated much before, he certainly will have to give some thought to it now. Do we take the Shopee Cup seriously? Given that the title sponsor is also our sponsor (and indirectly our owner), I don’t see us fielding a second string lineup for this tournament, unlike what BG Pathum did earlier last night.
Our fixtures are Borneo FC Samarinda (away), Albirex (away), and then Geylang (home). The Albirex fixture worries me the most despite their poor form this season. Assuming we take the Shopee Cup seriously and field a strong 11, can they recover quickly and still perform at their best at the weekend?
Even if we field a strong 11 and get a commanding lead (by no means an easy feat), Borneo FC’s late late heroics may mean that Coach Ranko pauses before making wholesale changes to the team to rest some legs.
Well, I’m not the coach. I suspect he will go with a strong lineup for all 3 upcoming games because of the long break that the players had since our last game against DPMM at the start of August.
This might work on a one-off basis, but this fixture congestion will pop up again and again in the coming months. 6 games in 20 days stretching from September to October, taking in flights to Bangkok and Hanoi – Ranko has to find an effective formula to allow the players to rest and recover.
We have good depth both in our local and foreign ranks – it is time to trust the depth a little more. Supporters should also be abit more understanding of the schedule and the necessity of rotation – if we see a lineup without Maxime Lestienne, let’s try not to panic. Try! Put it this way, if the squad is absolutely reliant on Maxime Lestienne being available to beat Albirex, don’t you think that it is a bit of a failure of the squad / management? I’d think so.
Indonesian Fans
Indonesian fans are known to be super passionate and super loud. While Borneo FC is a relatively newer club without the massive fanbase that clubs like Persija Jakarta and Persib Bandung have, they are still likely to have good home advantage. As far as I know, none of the Crew has been able to make their way up to Borneo for this one, so the team will have to repeat the Home United heroics of 2018 in the AFC Cup against Persija Jakarta.
A 3-1 win away from home, with Rudy Khairullah in sparkling form, Song being Song in the AFC Cup, and Shahril Ishak at his brilliant best, set against the backdrop of more than 70,000 Indonesian fans baying for our players’ blood. It doesn’t get much better than that. Watch this video to feel the atmosphere!
While it’s not quite expected to be anywhere near the same atmosphere, I reckon there will be a good crowd – tickets are being discounted by 17% for this game, as they really want the crowd to come in for this one.
Conclusion
Sorry if this hasn’t been the most useful preview – I think few would be able to give a meaningful analysis given that the league has only just started for our opponents, and few can really claim to be huge followers of Indonesian football.
If there’s anything that should make us feel confident – our foreign players seem to have much better CVs than our opponents’ foreign players. Bart Ramselaar has also been seen back in training, so that’s definitely a boost for us. The 5+1 quota applies here, so it’s interesting to see who misses out if everyone is fit.
We head into a period of many unknowns, but a period of huge excitement and alot of travel for players and fans. I’ll be heading to Jordan to support our Women’s Team in their first-ever foray into the Champions League (Qualifiers), so the next article should be coming to you from Jordan. Hope to share some nice pictures and videos of my time there!
COME ON YOU BOYS IN BLUE!
My predicted line-up
Izwan Mahbud
Lionel Tan, Bailey Wright, Toni Datkovic, Chris van Huizen
Rui Pires, Song Ui-Young, Hariss Harun
Maxime Lestienne, Lennart Thy, Bart Ramselaar
Score Prediction
Joseph and I predict the scores and track our success in a table. Stay tuned to find out who is the prediction king!
3 points for exact scoreline predicted correctly, 2 points for predicting the winner and margin of victory correctly (but not the exact scoreline), and 1 point for predicting the outcome correctly (win, lose or draw).
Eddy’s prediction: Borneo FC 1 Sailors 2
Joseph’s prediction: Borneo FC 0 Sailors 2
Written by Eddy Hirono
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