SINGAPORE -- There was a time, not too long ago, when Trent Buhagiar and Jonathan Aspropotamitis were fighting for a common cause.
Both hailing from New South Wales, the two -- although born two years apart -- were once Olyroos teammates. They even represented Australia at the 2018 AFC U23 Championship.
They would, of course, have faced off on many an occasion while coming through and establishing themselves in the A-League.
Since then, their respective footballing journeys have seen them go down very different paths.
After a decade in the A-League, Aspropotamitis moved to South Korea when he joined three-time Asian champions Pohang Steelers at the start of 2024.
Buhagiar made it to Europe, briefly playing in both Italy and Azerbaijan before becoming a statement signing for Singapore Premier League outfit BG Tampines Rovers ahead of this season. He even represents Malta at senior international level now.
As fate would have it, Buhagiar and Aspropotamitis would cross paths again. They probably just would not have expected, all those years back, that it might happen at a humble 2,800-capacity venue in northcentral Singapore -- approximately 6,300 kilometres away from home.
Yet, it was indeed Bishan Stadium that hosted their latest on-field reunion, this time in the AFC Champions League Two as Tampines claimed an upset 1-0 win over Pohang on Thursday.
They had, of course, already met a day earlier when the teams' training sessions took place one after the other. Before that, Aspropotamitis had already sent Buhagiar a text.
Not with an attempt at pre-match mind games between upcoming opponents or cheeky banter between two former teammates.
Rather, a request for a favour from an old friend.
"He actually asked me for tickets for the game because he had a few of his family come over, so he messaged me about that," a smirking Buhagiar told ESPN.
"We chatted yesterday when I saw him at training so it's good to see some familiar faces around and play against some players that I've obviously played with before.
"It's good to see there's a lot of Aussies out here and doing well."
The duo caught up again as the teams were departing the stadium and there was already talk about catching up over a coffee when the two teams face off again in Pohang in a fortnight -- a get-together they were not able to have this time around, especially with the Steelers flying back to South Korea immediately after the match.
It was about the closest they got to each other on Thursday, with Buhagiar -- hugging the left touchline for much of the 90 minutes -- and Asprotamitis -- as the most central of Pohang's back three -- hardly having an outright duel on the pitch.
"He's probably a little bit too fast for me -- that's why I couldn't get near him today," Aspropotamitis said self-depracatingly, even throwing in a mock roll-of-the-eyes for good measure.
And while Buhagiar did note how there were several Australians faring well in Asia, Aspropotamitis pointed out that there used to be far more -- making Thursday's meeting with his compatriot even more of a meaningful occasion as such instances get more infrequent.
"It's nice to play against Australians overseas," he added.
"Obviously there's not many of us playing in Asia now. A lot of our boys are going to Europe now, so it's special to play against him."
Both gave creditable accounts for themselves on the evening.
Aspropotamitis recovered from the shock of Pohang conceding after just 15 seconds, where he was the closest recovering defender to scorer Hide Higashikawa but was ultimately blameless as the entire backline had just been caught out by Tampines' early incursion. He barely put a foot wrong and even loomed as a possible source of an equaliser with his height at set-pieces.
"They scored really early so that kind of gave them more impetus and confidence to protect that lead, or go and score another, so it wasn't an ideal start," he replied, when asked if that early goal really turned the tie on its head.
"But we had plenty of chances in the game -- we just couldn't take them. Well done and congrats to them. I thought they fought well and played well.
"We have to lick our wounds and go back to Pohang now and we have to win the next game."
Meanwhile, Buhagiar provided a constant release outlet on the left for Tampines, especially as they came under increasing pressure in the closing stages of the game. His sheer pace and ability on the ball saw him thrive on the counterattack as more space appeared in the opposition half -- with Tampines even spurning a handful of excellent opportunities to kill off the contest due to a lack of decisiveness.
Asked for his assessment of the game, Buhagiar said: "I think it was a really good performance from us.
"We scored in the first minute and had to dig deep defensively pretty much the whole game. We stuck as a team, stuck as a group, defended together, and we got there in the end and got the three points."
Having both entered the clash with wins in their opening two games, it is a still-perfect Tampines who have now surged ahead at the top of Group H.
Another victory in Pohang, and Tampines would almost have guaranteed their place in round of 16.
Buhagiar has that, and a proper catch-up with an old mate, to look forward to in a fortnight.
As for Aspropotamitis?
A free coffee, as he insisted it will be Buhagiar that would be paying, and some friendly revenge, adding: "He got the better of me today so, hopefully, I can get the better of him in Pohang."