Ham & Ng Sandwich
Grilled International's Wooshik Ham and Grilled Birds' Ng Siong Chun left their respective clubs to further their careers today, with son of Korean expats Ham moving west to the Belait district, to link up with Division Two side Crvena Zvezda Brunei. The affiliates of Bosnia's Voljena Zvezda Crvena might have fallen on hard times in II.3 currently, having been rebranded from Vorstadt Residenz 1942 just last week, and new boss Manish Rahane has already admitted that they are highly unlikely to survive the season.
That said, Rahane has been active in his recruitment process, having brought seven new players in the week before Ham, who had been negotiating with Dutch sixth division club HVC Den Haag as well. The 18 year-old midfielder would finally elect to stay with the more-familiar, as he moves across the country a second time, the first after being cut from F.C. Liverpool Brunei's youth squad.
International scout Adinath Pant, who took a punt on Ham when the chips were down, described him as an unusually-mature teenager who knew exactly what he wanted. "Skill-wise, Wooshik was little more than a solid operator, but mentality-wise I've seen few better even among the pros." Pant praised. "He's hard-working, level-headed, and never doubts himself. A coach's dream."
As for Chicken Wings centreback Ng Siong Chun, his destiny would lie with II.1 stalwarts Marina Sailors, who had just been upset in the Ruby Challenger Cup semis by Ah Beng FC. A pair of league wins against former national champions Bot Team FC points to their ability, however, and in recruiting Ng alongside El Koala F.C's Ferruccio Schipani and SacciTeam's Alberto Requesens on free transfers, Cristian Tărâţă has demonstrated an eye towards the future as well.
The coaches at the Wings remembered Ng as one of the best-liked kids in the dressing room. "He had a way of making you smile, win or lose. Although we would often wish that he made losing less enjoyable, for the greater good!"
