Darko Dawns
Tian Yonghang beefed his squad up for the final showdown against Moeinsingapore by recruiting former Bosnia and Herzegovina U-20 winger
Darko Andrović from Hungarian III.10 club Bubi Cf, reprising his short-term acquisition of Hong Kang Leong two seasons ago. The 35 year-old Hong has by the way picked up another Emerald Challenger Cup with current Philippines Football League leaders Pinoy Prazilia, and is in no hurry to leave the club.
The S$6.5 million-rated Andrović, who has spent nearly thirteen seasons with Bubi Cf, is of a different mold compared to Hong in any case; where Hong was comparatively methodical in his approach, Andrović is an unabashed speedster, who at times appears to operate on fast forward in his highlight reels. After coming through the ranks at hometown side Abasove magične kutije, he would fetch nearly S$6 million from Latvian hopefuls Carnikava City F.C. as a teenager, with City then making a two million dollar profit after a year and a half in passing him on to Bubi Cf.
Andrović made his national youth debut scoring the final goal in a 6-1 friendly whipping of Croatia, who however returned the favour 8-0 in their next meeting. A 0-3 loss to the Dutch in the Europe Cup followed, with the winger then enjoying the peak of his U-20 career with the winner in a 2-1 over Liechtenstein. A 2-2 draw versus Italy, 3-1 win over Croatia and 1-3 loss to Denmark then completed his seven caps.
This is all ancient history to the 31 year-old, that said, as the new Birds Number Thirteen insisted that his only ambition at the moment, was to help Grilled Birds to the cup. "I know it may be hard for some to accept if I were to be picked over someone who's been here for far longer... but if I am indeed chosen, you can be assured that I will give it my all!"
Tian had his pick of no fewer than four other Bubi Cf players with Spanish boss Mauro Gregorio overseeing a clearout, but none of Per Henriksson, Gildas Papet, Hubert Collie or Stuart Fitzgibbon ticked as many boxes, either for him or for other clubs as they remained unsold. Faroese national star Dánjal Nedergaard was also under consideration, but the S$8.8 million that Brazilian Division Four side CDST F.C. wanted for the 32 year-old was deemed not as good value as Andrović offered.
Farmer Bunnies would shift a player too, with recent academy fullback Chong Chi Teck taken on by German VII.834 startup vfl.wolfsburg on a free, as their first-ever buy. The 17 year-old had won many eyeballs at the Rancher Rabbits with his fleet feet and ability to shoot whenever the opportunity presented, which should see wolfsburg boss Mathias Klimt give him a start soon.
