Sailors Focused On Plan

They do not want to park the bus despite an unexpected 3-0 edge over Sanfrecce

- Deepanraj Ganesan

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.