The Lion City Sailors Women have made history by becoming the first Singaporean club to qualify for the Group Stage of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Champions League (AWCL).
A 3-1 victory over Kelana United on Thursday night (28 August) at the Hang Jebat Stadium in Melaka sealed top spot in Group C, with goals from Miyu Inayama, Ami Takeuchi, and 15-year-old Nur Ain Salleh ensuring back-to-back wins for the Sailors.
Following their 2-0 triumph over Etihad Club earlier in the week, the Sailors are now uncatchable, as they boast a superior head-to-head record over the second-placed Jordanians, who secured a 3-1 win against Kyrgyz Republic’s SDYUSHOR SI-Asiagoal in the day’s earlier kick-off.
“We are a young team, but the players and backroom staff are always very supportive and give their best for the team,” said Head Coach Daniel Ong, who could scarcely contain his pride. “There are no words to describe the feeling right now, and I’ll always work for the betterment of the girls.”
Another fast start rewarded
Just as they had in their opening fixture, the Sailors Women — unchanged in their starting XI — seized the initiative early against Malaysian champions Kelana United.
Centre-back Sakurako Ohashi nearly opened the scoring for the Sailors in the fourth minute, but her header from a corner flew narrowly wide.
The breakthrough, however, came soon after. In the 11th minute, Ami’s shot was parried by Kelana goalkeeper Nurdiana Syafiqah, only for Miyu to pounce and tap home from close range.
Kelana responded with efforts from Sheva Imut and Helsya Maeisyaroh, but both were comfortably dealt with by goalkeeper Izairida Shakira.
The Sailors then came agonisingly close to doubling their lead when Riari Kitaoka’s strike struck the upright in the 34th minute.
Enter Nur Ain Salleh
Looking to inject more energy and impetus into his side, Daniel turned to the bench early in the second half and brought on 15-year-old Ain in the 53rd minute.
The substitution paid off in style just 10 minutes later.
Capitalising on a goalmouth scramble, Ain swept the ball in from close range to etch her name into the history books as one of the youngest goalscorers in AWCL history at just 15 years, 7 months, and 233 days old.
“I feel very honoured. This will be a memorable goal in my career,” said Ain, who is the first female scholar of the Sailors Football Academy.
But the teenager was not done yet.
Moments later, she showed superb awareness with an intelligent give-and-go with Ami, and the latter proceeded to curl a deflected shot beyond Nurdiana from inside the box to make it 3-0.
“I panicked a bit when the ball came to me, but I knew I had to think fast,” Ain admitted with a grin. “I just played it into space, and Ami finished brilliantly.”
Winger Putri Alyiah Seow then came on in the 82nd minute to a warm reception from her family in the stands as she made her first AWCL appearance, before Viny Silfianus struck a consolation for Kelana in stoppage time with a speculative effort from the halfway line that bounced awkwardly over Shakira.
A night to remember
With the victory, the Sailors Women have joined their men’s side in blazing a trail for Singapore football on the continental stage.
For Sailors striker Raeka Ee, who only made her senior debut last year, the team’s journey over the past year has been remarkable.
“We are very proud and honoured to have represented Singapore positively on the continental stage,” she said. “Coming into this competition, we were seen as underdogs, but we never stopped believing. We pulled this off together, and we’ll keep backing each other to go further.”
The Sailors are the first club from the Preliminary Stage to officially secure progression to the 12-team AWCL Group Stage scheduled for 9 to 23 November, with the draw set for 11 September.
Before that, Daniel’s charges face one final Group C clash against SDYUSHOR SI – Asiagoal on Sunday (31 August), where they will look to finish with a perfect record.
