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No glamour about Hariss’ new club,but it could well be the right move

SINGAPORE — In 1983, hundreds of fans went to Changi Airport to see off Fandi Ahmad as he departed for FC Groningen in the Netherlands. When Hariss Harun flew off to Barcelona early this morning, there were not quite as many supporters waving scarves in goodbye.

Singapore midfielder Hariss Harun will spend a year on loan in Spanish football’s third tier. TODAY file photo

Singapore midfielder Hariss Harun will spend a year on loan in Spanish football’s third tier. TODAY file photo

SINGAPORE — In 1983, hundreds of fans went to Changi Airport to see off Fandi Ahmad as he departed for FC Groningen in the Netherlands. When Hariss Harun flew off to Barcelona early this morning, there were not quite as many supporters waving scarves in goodbye.

If the Singapore vice-captain was actually going to FC Barcelona, it would be different of course.

Then there would be massive excitement — which would eventually settle into boredom when he subsequently struggles to make it to the bench, much less the first 11.

Instead, Hariss will, upon arrival in the Spanish city, jump in a car for a quick drive to L’Hospitalet, the Spanish third-tier football club which will be his home for the next year.

There is a lack of glamour and a lack of knowledge about the Segunda B club to get the Singapore fans, media and casual supporters excited over the move, but in football terms, it may just be the right one, according to Scott Ollerenshaw.

Fans in the region need to be realistic, said the former Australian international who played in Malaysia in the mid-1990s.

The problem is that there is just no sustained call for Asian players in Europe.

“I think we need to ask the rhetorical question,” said Ollerenshaw, who is now a player agent, and works occasionally with Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT), the Malaysian champions sending Hariss out on a year-long loan.

“How many of our best Asean players would make it in the second or third tiers in Spain, France, England, Germany or Italy? The answer is very few, if any.

“We must understand that they are not in demand in Europe.”

Ollerenshaw made the move from Walsall in England’s third division (now known as League Two) to Malaysia’s Sabah as a player.

It was, he says, a step down as playing in Malaysia was easier.

“JDT needed to find a balance for Hariss — somewhere where the standard was better than the Malaysia Super League but, at the same time, where he could get game time,” he explained.

“Hariss is one of the few Asean players who would not look out of place at this level.”

Ollerenshaw’s first criteria looks like it will be met as those with experience in both Spain and Malaysia believe that there is no question that Hariss is making a step up.

“Segunda B is a competitive league with a football where you have little time or space to make decisions,” said Ricardo Rodriguez, the former head coach at La Liga 2 side Girona, who was also in charge of Bangkok Glass when they knocked JDT out of the Asian Champions League play-offs in 2015.

“The game is faster and the level of the teams is higher than Malaysia. I think it will be a good challenge and experience for him and he will improve as a player.”

The second criteria regarding playing time is crucial. Johor’s relationship with Valencia, the Spanish La Liga side owned by Singapore billionaire Peter Lim, could have made it easy to send Hariss there. But when he is not going to play, then there seems to be of little point.

Also historically, when it comes to the top tiers of Europe, Spain is the last frontier for Asia’s best.

England, Germany and, to a lesser extent, Italy have been conquered by the likes of Cha Bum-kun (Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen), Hidetoshi Nakata (Perugia, Roma and Parma), Park Ji-sung (Manchester United) and Shinji Kagawa (Borussia Dortmund and Manchester United).

Not La Liga though.

Shunsuke Nakamura went there after a solid showing in Italy and a spectacular spell in Scotland with Celtic. The Japanese star flopped at Espanyol.

South Korea’s Lee Chun-soo, a star of the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, failed at Real Sociedad and Numancia. China’s Zhang Chengdong was the latest but barely played for Rayo Vallecano.

Take Iran’s Javad Nekounam’s time with Osasuna out of the equation, and the cupboard is bare.

There are other ways for Asian players of course — the commercial route.

This was the one taken by Teerasil Dangda.

The Thai star is perhaps the leading striker in South-east Asia and went straight to La Liga and Almeria in 2014. He did not last long.

Manuel Seisdedos is an agent who specialises in taking Asian players to Spain and believes that Teerasil’s try was all wrong.

“That deal was purely marketing,” said Seisdedos. “Any deal made for commercial reasons is doomed to failure.”

For the agent, as long as the club’s heart is in the right place and the Spaniards are not seeking a swift Singaporean sponsorship deal, then Hariss’s move could be a good decision by the player.

“He will learn a hell of a lot as this is a great education,” said Seisdedos.

Trevor Hartley, who was Director of Coaching at the Football Association of Singapore from 1976 to 1980, agrees that the important part is that the club wants the player for the right reasons, and vice versa.

“He will get out of it what he puts into it,” said Hartley, who was also the occasional national coach of the Lions during his stint in Singapore. “The same is true of the club. If both Hariss and the club want him to improve, and both work together to achieve that, it should be a good move.”

According to Seisdedos, Hariss was offered to several Thai clubs a week before the Spain deal was sealed.

By then, it was too close to the start of the season for most clubs to open their wallets.

Regardless, JDT sources insist that the player is crucial to their plans for the future and Ollerenshaw is sure that Hariss is still central to the Southern Tigers’s future plans.

“One thing JDT have proven over the last five years is their professionalism and attention to detail,” the Australian said.

“This was all planned months before but it’s not like the club can just click their fingers and the right club is there for Hariss to sign with.”

At the moment, beggars cannot be choosers in South-east Asia when it comes to going to Europe’s big leagues.

And for all that Hariss may learn in Spain, his biggest achievement could be helping to pave the way for others in Singapore, and the region, to do the same.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

TODAY Sports’ guest columnist John Duerden has been based in Asia for almost 20 years and covers the continental football scene for The New York Times, BBC Radio, The Guardian, FourFourTwo and World Soccer magazine.

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