|
|
The team’s newest recruit, Aliff Shafaein, who made his debut in the match against Albirex Niigata late in June, will already be a familiar figure to most Warriors’ supporters from his days spent with fierce rivals Tampines Rovers over the last few seasons.
Signed from Tanjong Pagar United where he spent the early rounds of the season, after leaving the Stags at the end of last year with a championship medal in his pocket, the attacking midfielder had a good game when the team went to Brunei and returned with the three points, becoming the first side to beat leaders DPMM on their own ground all season.
Aliff provided an assist for one of the two goals, with a peach of a cross from the left, where he excels, although he is equally adept on either flank and tells us he really prefers to play through the middle, tucked in behind the strikers.
The 30-year-old, who they call the ‘little master’, is joining the club in a year when he is getting married, the festivities due to take place on Dec 8, and the player admits that he will now need to become much more responsible.
But having been with fiancée’ Mardianawati for 14 years already, Aliff must have tried her patience more than once at least, in all of those years, before he decided to ’settle down’.
“Now that I am approaching 30 and getting married, I have to behave more responsibly,” the affable Aliff explained.
“There have been times in the past when I haven’t done that, but the past is past."
Aliff comes to the Warriors having already played for the other two main rivals of the club, Home United, as a junior, and Tampines Rovers.
“Home United was my first club and it was where I got my first S.League start under Steve Darby. I was already into my national service when Steve arrived mid-season and began to give me S-League games.
“Before that I had been playing most of the time in the Prime League there."
Then, of course, there were many happy years at Tampines, where the attacking midfielder picked up a League and Cup double medal in his first season there in 2004, the RHB Singapore Cup the following year, before going on to bag his second league title with the Stags last season before his departure.
After an early offer to rejoin Home United fell through, Aliff moved on to Tanjong Pagar instead.
“They could not offer me anything like what Tampines could” Aliff revealed, “but they let me know that if another club was interested mid-season, that could offer me a better deal, they would not stand in my way.
“As I am getting married and have commitments and obligations to cover, I was hoping I could find a good club that was interested in me and thankfully SAFFC was, so I grabbed the opportunity.
“It gives me a chance to prove myself again as I am only on a six-month contract. I don’t see it as a fresh start, really, just the next phase.
“I want to continue playing as I have always done, to help the team. It would be good to win more trophies with the Warriors to go with those I won when I was at Tampines.
“Coming here has reunited me with a few old friends too.
“Rezal Hassan was at Tampines when I first got there and Shukor Zailan was with me when we won the title last season. Also Hassan Sunny is an old Tampines player I know very well.
“I have been playing on the left wing here so far, even though I am probably happier playing in the middle of the field.
“I am an attacking player and my defensive work is not so strong, so playing as a wing back, as I once did at Home United, is not something I would enjoy now I think.
“I am definitely aware that I have to fight for my spot in the team, there’s a lot of really good players at the Warriors and we are all competing for places.
“I’m used to that, as I did not always start every game at Tampines which was another club with a very strong squad.
“I can only do my best and I plan to do that for sure."
Aliff has travelled widely thanks to football and treasures those experiences.
“When I was in primary school, I was lucky enough to be selected in the combined schools team when I was only nine years old and travelled to Hiroshima.
“I also took part in the Puma Street Soccer tournament in Berlin in 1995 and, out of 20 teams we came in fourth; we were an Under-14 side."
Having moved on from Naval Base Primary to Braddell Secondary School, the honours continued to come in.
Now defunct, the Braddell school was South Zone champions when Aliff was playing there, a school which was also attended by Hassan Sunny, two years later, according to Aliff.
The new Warriors’ man also played for ITE Ang Mo Kio when they won the ITE title in his only year there.
“I dropped out of ITE,” he said, “but not before winning something in football with them!"
Early years spent at Home United in the MILO Spex 2000 series honed the player’s craft between the ages of 13 and 18.
National Service intervened at one point, with Home retaining his services.
He was then recruited for the SEA Games squad by coach PN Sivaji and, as a member of that team which was to play in Vietnam, he was expected to play for the Young Lions rather than Home United.
With one year to go on his Home United contract, he was keen to return to the Protectors, but things did not work out. A chance to join the Warriors came once before, in 2004, but when that did not materialise, Aliff joined Tampines instead and remained there until the end of last season.
“I got to travel a lot with Tampines,” he recalled.
“We played in the AFC Cup a number of times and visited some nice places. I was even offered a spot by New Radiant of the Maldives, after we played them, but Tampines wanted to keep me,” he laughed.
“I know I can play on and do well. When Tampines released me and the Home United offer fell through, I was on the verge of quitting the sport as I could not afford to play football at a lower level and earn so much less than I did before.
"I thought of taking some outside work instead of football, but luckily Tanjong Pagar made me an offer and now the Warriors have given me an even better opportunity,” he reflected.
“I will do my best and I know not to rush things. It’s still possible for us to win the title as the top teams are so close and we are only eight points behind the leaders now.
“We are still in the hunt for three trophies and I hope we can win at least one of them!" |
|
[复制链接]
发表于 2012-7-1 18:24
