Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Manila: Veteran Singapore international Khairul Amri is back in familiar surroundings this year after signing terms with S.League side Tampines Rovers. With more than 100 caps for the Lions, Amri is still considered among the best local strikers in Singapore and his experience will likely prove key to the Stags this season.
The-AFC.com spoke to the striker as Singapore’s representatives prepare to take on the Philippines’ Global FC in an AFC Champions League Preliminary Stage 1 encounter in Manila.
Q: How does it feel like to be back at Tampines Rovers, in what will be your third stint at the club?
It feels like I’m coming back home. I know what to expect, what the club wants. It’ll be a tough year for us, there are only local strikers. I take it as a challenge. We’ve signed a Croatian forward, Ivan Dzoni but he is more of a supporting striker, almost a midfielder.
Q: Was it a straightforward decision to return to the Stags or were there other offers?
There was an offer from Hougang United, but after poring over the terms, I think Tampines felt like a better fit. It’s the only S.League club in my heart, really. I wouldn’t say it was an easy decision, but my mind was already half-made [when Tampines made their interest clear].
Q: Does it feel like you’re coming full circle, back at the club you first played for in 2008?
(laughs) I hope to end my career here, I’d love to be able to tell people that the only S.League clubs I played for were the Young Lions (Singapore U-23) and Tampines. But the Stags have high expectations every year, looking to win so I need to be at the top level. I hope I can carry on here for at least the next three or four years.
Q: The Stags have lost three key pieces of their attack from last season – Jermaine Pennant, Billy Mehmet and Jordan Webb. Having played against them last year, do you think the club will struggle without them?
The three of them will definitely be very hard to replace. They were big names here and they did well last season, especially Pennant and Webb. Billy was the one doing all the scoring too. Pennant was the engine of the team though, so he will be a big loss. But I hope that the new overseas players will at least get close to that level. As you know, they are young so give them time.
Q: Do you feel any pressure on yourself to hit the ground running at Tampines?
My time here in the S.League, especially with Tampines, I normally play alongside overseas strikers and that somehow made my life easier but now it’s the other way around. I think I need to work extra hard, it’s going to be very difficult. Because for sure, I’ll be playing against overseas centre backs like what we did in our preseason [in Malaysia]. But I don’t care, I’ll take it as a challenge. I’ll be looking for my first goal and keep it going.
Q: First up is the AFC Champions League Preliminary Stage 1 tie against Global FC. There’ll be some familiar faces like Misagh Bahadoran and Amani Aguinaldo who you played against in the AFF Cup this past December. What are your thoughts?
Amani is like… he’s like a bunch of flies swarming around you when you’re trying to eat. He’s like that (laughs). But I think to qualify, it’s going to be very tough. We need to take it one step at a time. For a start, if we can beat Global it’ll be good and then we’ll see how we fare against Brisbane Roar.
It’ll be tough, man, tough. Definitely. I can’t remember the last time I played them but I’m expecting a tough task against the Australians too because of their physical advantage. Of course this is the AFC Champions League, so you have to expect the quality. Who knows, man!
With the current team, we definitely have a chance. But I feel the game came a bit too fast, we are a new team and we’re still trying to gel. But we have to put on a show, we’ll try to play hard and get a result.
Q: If the team does progress against Global, Brisbane Roar and Shanghai Shenhua await in the play-off stage. Is this a huge incentive to win this next game?
That will be the first thing in mind, a bonus for winning and progressing. Playing big teams will be good experience for us, but we have to win this first match and go from there. I think I need to tell the rest of the team [about Carlos Tevez signing for Shenhua] because I think some of them aren’t aware of that yet.
Q: Have you set any targets this season? What do you hope to achieve at Tampines?
I’d like to stay injury-free, as usual. But this time round, I’m also looking to score more goals. I’m not setting any targets but definitely more than last season when I only scored five in about 11 games. Now I’m focussing on my recovery, not only after games but after training through stretches and strengthening in order to train better the next day. That’s my routine nowadays.
*Photo: **Tampines Rovers FC*