01 November 2012

Shahrazen: Winning the S-League is the true goal


Thursday, November 1, 2012
SHAHRAZEN Said can end the Singapore League (S-League) season second in the goal-scoring charts but the striker insists it won't mean a thing unless DPMM FC beat Tampines Rovers FC for the title in tomorrow's season-ender.

The country's only professional club is gearing up for its biggest match in history, facing Balestier Khalsa FC at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Berakas tomorrow night in a must-win match if they are to lift the S-League trophy for the first time.

Defending champions and league leaders Tampines take on Malaysian national Under-23 side Harimau Muda at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore in the night's other game, and a slip up from the Stags combined with a DPMM FC win will see the Great Eastern Yeo's S-League trophy travel across the South China Sea.

Shahrazen is currently third with 13 goals, with Geylang United FC's Jozef Kaplan and Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) FC's Mislav Karoglan both on 14 and Home United FC's Frederic Mendy leading the table with 20.

Mendy has the chance to add to his tally when Home take on the Young Lions (Singaporean national Under-23 team) tonight in the final game for both sides. Kaplan and Karoglan also face off tonight in the last match of the season for both Geylang and SAF, where goals from either player will make Shahrazen's task all the more harder.

DPMM FC's top-scorer though, stressed that he has other matters on his mind.

"I'm not really thinking about it," said Shahrazen last week when asked what he felt about his goal-tally.

"The most important thing is that we beat Balestier and Tampines drop points... For me, anything more than that is just good luck.

"I'm just doing my job as a striker ... If I have the chance to score, I take it.

"Finishing second in the table is just a bonus for me.

"I never expected to score 13 goals... If you had asked me at the start of the season, I didn't even think I would score 10.

"I scored nine goals the last time we were in the S-League (in 2009), and two of them were in the Singapore League Cup," added Shahrazen, who finished joint top-scorer with Perak's Keita Mandjou during the 2006/07 Malaysian Super League (MSL) season with 21 goals.

Though the 26-year-old only netted once during DPMM FC's run to the Singapore League Cup crown in August, he couldn't have picked a better time than the final against Geylang, scoring the 36th minute opener before Azwan Salleh's 76th minute free-kick won the game.

The striker was in the midst of a drought leading up to the August 11 final against Geylang, his last goal coming on May 5 when he bagged a brace in the 5-1 win against Hougang United FC.

He hasn't had any problems finding the back of the net since then though, going on to score five goals in the team's seven S-League games leading up to tomorrow's title-decider.

Though he might lack the speed which was so pivotal to his rich vein of form during the 2006/07 MSL campaign, the striker remains just as clinical in front of goal and his ability to carve out space continues to mark him out as DPMM FC's most potent threat.

The Brunei Times

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