ACL2 trophy is 'something beautiful to fight for', says Lion City Sailors' Hariss Harun
It was here, as a 10-year-old with the Home United youth team, that the Lion City Sailors skipper played in his first tournament.
More than two decades later, the midfielder, now 34, has the chance to scale the pinnacle of his career at the same venue.
On May 18, Hariss will lead the Sailors in their quest for the AFC Champions League Two (ACL2) title against the United Arab Emirates' Sharjah FC.
He said: "Bishan is the first stadium I played in as a boy. So even in my wildest dreams, I would not have thought that this is where I would be playing for a continental title one day.
"With especially how it looks ahead of the final, it is surreal."
With the Sailors' home stadium at Jalan Besar for six ACL2 games deemed unsuitable for the final and the 55,000-seater National Stadium unavailable due to a concert, significant works have been done at Bishan ahead of the final.
They include the installation of three new spectator stands to increase the capacity from around 3,000 to 10,000.
A raucous atmosphere is expected as the newly crowned Singapore Premier League champions aim to notch another milestone by becoming the first Singaporean club to win a continental title.
For Hariss, this will not be his first rodeo in an AFC club competition final.
A decade ago, the veteran player won the 2015 AFC Cup - the previous iteration of the ACL2 - with Malaysian team Johor Darul Takzim, who secured a 1-0 win over Tajikistan side FC Istiklol in Dushanbe.
A win with the Sailors will eclipse that 2015 moment as his career highlight, said Hariss.
This time, he is playing with a Singapore club alongside long-time friends such as Izwan Mahbud, Hafiz Nor and Shawal Anuar, and it will also be in front of his family and friends.
He added: "Of course, that 2015 win was really special, because that meant that I was the first Singaporean to have won the tournament. Now 10 years on, I wouldn't have imagined that I would have made it to another final, let alone with a club from my home country.
"I am not downplaying 2015 because to win any title is special but this will be even sweeter as it is being played on home soil, in front of family and with some friends who I have been playing with almost the entirety of my career.
"We have something really beautiful, something really prestigious to fight for on Sunday, and we should do no less than we have done so far and give it our all in front of our fans."
The Sailors' journey to the final has been a roller-coaster ride. While they topped Group F ahead of 2023 Chinese Super League second runners-up Zhejiang Professional, Thai League 1's third-placed Port FC, and Indonesia Liga 1 champions Persib Bandung, they suffered group stage losses to Zhejiang and Persib after throwing a two-goal lead twice.
There was a convincing aggregate win over Muangthong United in the round of 16 before lady luck shone on them, as they were able to turn a 6-1 quarter-final, first-leg loss to Sanfrecce Hiroshima into a 3-0 win after the Japanese side fielded an ineligible player. In the semi-finals, the Sailors came through with a 2-1 aggregate win over Australia's Sydney FC.
Sailors' Australian centre-back Bailey Wright, 32, has had his fair share of high-stake matches. They include several League One play-off games when he was with England's Sunderland and Preston North End, as well as World Cup qualification play-offs with the Australian national team.
He stressed that the final will be special as the Sailors have an opportunity to "do something that no team has ever dreamt of doing in Singapore".
Lion City Sailors captain Hariss Harun and centre-back Bailey Wright at a training session on May 17. ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
Wright, whose family and friends have flown in for the final, said: "We're kind of the pioneers of this journey and we know what that can do for future generations.
"We've all grown up as kids and had our idols and, if it's a local team, it's even more special. This is a chance to go down in the history books and be remembered for a long time."
Echoing those sentiments at the pre-match press conference on May 17, Hariss said: "For the longest time, there have been ups and downs, more down than up (in Singapore football). This is a huge chance for us as a club side to show the way forward for Singapore football.
"It's definitely going to inspire those not just within our club... everyone else watching, that this is the way forward, and hopefully this will be a kind of launch pad for our football."
Sailors head coach Aleksandar Rankovic and captain Hariss Harun at the pre-match press conference on May 17. ST PHOTO: DEEPANRAJ GANESAN
Sailors coach Aleksandar Rankovic said: "It is going to be a 50-50 game. I don't see us as an underdog. I don't see them as the favourites, (just) as I don't see us as favourites.
"It's one match, it's a final, and we will see who wants it more and I hope it is going to be us."
The ACL2 winners will earn a play-off slot in the ACL Elite for 2025-26 and pocket US$2.5 million (S$3.2 million) in prize money.
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