Envy from their peer - El Nino Del Firo's Brazilian soujour

(The content of this entry is obtained via the transcript provided by Integrated Marketing Solutions Group [IMSG] - the PR agency for Nike Singapore)

(P.S: The copyrights of the images depicted in this blog entry belong to Nike.)

(Pictured Above) El Nino Del Firo represented Singapore in this training trip at Granja Comary

INTRODUCTION
El Nino Del Firo, the winning team of the "Senior"category of Nike Cup Singapore 2010, headed to Brazil recently to fulfill that once-in-a-lifetime dream to train in the famed Granja Comary.

DAY 1
One thing that for sure is that the group of five boys that formed the El Nino Del Firo will have the admiration from all their peers for being the selected few from around the globe that travelled to the famed Granja Comary – the Cradle of Football in Brazil that is also the training base of the A Seleção – the Brazilian national team.

That was the reward for emerged as the champions of the “Senior” category of the Nike Cup Singapore 2010.

(Pictured above) Learn dribbling the Brazilian way!!

Upon arriving at Granja Comary, the boys - Syafiq, Izwann, Faiz Rahim, Sahhid and Afiq were all giving once-in-a-lifetime experience to train exactly how the Brazilian national team train .

DAY 2
Part of the training trip was given the opportunity to be coached by some of the finest coaches in the academy that the boys learned the finer details of the game such as going through tactical drills in awareness, passing and positioning while in Teresópolis, where the academy is located.

(Pictured above) "Listen up, boys" as the coach gives out his instructions to the team.

(Pictured above) Catching beach football action at the famous Copacabana

But it was not all about having undergo drilling sessions on the pitch, the Singaporean boys were also given the opportunity to stroll along the famed Copacabana beach to catch beach football actions there.

DAY 3
The third day of the trip saw El Nino Del Firo being put to the test when they found themselves pitted against the other winning teams of the Nike Cup from Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand that joined them in this training trip.

(Pictured above) It's not all about "work" and sight-seeing too with the other participating teams at Sugar Loaf Mountain.

Beside playing against their “neighbours”, the Singapore representatives also gauged themselves against two top Brazilian youth teams were on the same day.

DAY 4
Beach football plays an important role in the development of any Brazilian footballer besides futsal, the 5-a-side indoor version of the game.

(Pictured above)The Brazilian coach and player showing the boys how beach football is properly played!

The fourth day of the trip given the boys an opportunity to be gauged by one top Brazilian beach football coach on their skill level that trademarked the game such as one-touch passing, juggling and volley of the ball while playing on the sandy surfaces.

DAY 5
It is back to the business on the fifth day of the trip, as reality unfolded on the futsal court.

(Pictured above) The Heat is on!!

Having proven themselves at their own backyard, El Nino Del Firo squared off again against their counterparts to decide who are the best in South East Asia.

Although our Singapore boys did make it to the final of the challenge, they failed to overcome the eventual winners, Enjoy FC from Malaysia at the final hurdle.

(Pictured above) El Nino Del Firo (in red) vs Malaysia's Enjoy FC

It was double happiness for the boys from across the Causeway, as they were also the winning team of the beach football competition.

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"Ambushed" scouting by Fandi, Nazri and Aide

To the players of both Orange County (pictured above, in orange jersey) and Team Beyond Imagination (lime jersey), it was something rather unusual for them when they saw a sudden surge of "intruders" turning out for their Sunday League fixture at the Bedok North Secondary School.

(Pictured above) Rare mainstream media coverage on a Sunday League game.

Beside those from the media and their D2DLeague coordinators, making their appearance at the school compound nested inside the Bedok Reservoir Road estate were three former national skippers - Fandi Ahmad, Nazri Nasir and Aide Iskandar.

(L-R) Aide Iskandar, Fandi Ahmad and Nazri Nasir watching the game from sidelines.

Under the hot scorching heat, the two teams slogged out against each other and with Team Beyond Imagination claiming a 2-1 victory over their opponents on a bumpy playing surface.

Following the end of the match, it was then made known to the players that the three former Lions skippers were actually on a scouting mission launched worldwide by Nike.

Both teams fought hard under the hot sun.

Called "The Chance", the talent scouting exercise will see a panel of coaches shortlisting a group of amateur players from the age of 18 to 25 years old from various amateur league matches being played around the island during the selection period from now until 15th September.

The three former Lions skippers shortlisting their selected players.

Following that, shortlisted players will be invited for a four-day trial from 15th to 19th of September.

The top 30 selected players will take part in a Final Trial on 2 – 3 October, which will see the top 18 players playing a friendly game on the second day of the final.

The winner of the Singapore competition (out of the final 18 players) represent the Republic to complete for the exclusive eight slots being offered by the Nike Academy in London with other 99 candidates from other countries, following a trial with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

This group of eight players will eventually embark a year long, full-expenses paid training in this high performance training program, supported by the English Premier League, starting from July 2011.

Muhd Helmi (pictured above, being interviewed by Mediacorp) was one of the selected players during this unique kind of scouting process and promised to give him best during the upcoming trial.

"I will definitely give my best during the trial, as this is a great opportunity for me to develop as a better player." said the 22 year-old civil servant who started playing the game at the age of five and singled out his idol Fandi as his source of inspiration.

Fandi addresses the group of players after the announcement of the shortlisted players.

"I believe this campaign will definitely help to unearth some raw talents out there and hopefully they will get a chance to play in Europe." said Fandi following the match.

Fandi talks to the media after the scouting session.

When asked what are qualities they are looking for during the selection period, the former SAFFC coach said:"Just play your normal game and for your team, you need not have to perform any "bicycle-kicks" to gain attention, but they must learn to express themselves during the match."

(P.S: Unfortunately, Fandi did not divulge more details on his linkup to the assistant coaching post in FC Groningen and his two sons' training stint in England which he felt would be more appropriate when the time is right, when sidetracked by the media.)

For more information or to register for ‘The Chance", visit www.nikefootball.com.sg

FOR MORE PICTURES OF THE LAUNCH OF "THE CHANCE", PLEASE CLICK HERE...

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Keep Up the Good Work, Guys!!

The Youtube Clip of the highlights of the match...

It was indeed a roller-coaster ride for the group of 15 year-old boys that formed the National U15 football team that took part in the Youth Olympic Games.

After two emphatic victories in the group stages over Zimbabwe and Montenegro, the expectation was at an all-time high on the "Little Cubs" to aim a shot at the elusive gold medal of the football competition.

No one can blame the kind of expectation and hope, after all these boys did just enough to captivate the nation that is starved of footballing success in the recent years (yes, we were that close to knock the doors to Doha and only after a successful appeal that the Cubs are granted the ticket to Asian Games in November).

So how could we expect that every hope was crashed to the earth when the boys lost to the unheralded Haitian in the semi-final.

As always, fingers went pointing around with players, coaches, media and fans putting the blame on each other.

But at the end of the day, like a phoenix raised from the ashes, the Little Cubs redeemed themselves and beat the Montenegrin in the third fourth placing match to clinch the bronze medal of this inaugural competition.

(Pictured above) The "Little Cubs" in jubilation (photo credit: Mr Yazeen Buhari)

Generally speaking the second win over the Balkans earned some praises from some thoughts I gathered from this blog Facebook Group (as detailed below).

We have good boys. But we have to credit the coach as it has been a major transformation from the AYG team to the YOG team. They excelled this time round with grit , determination and fantastic positional and possessional play. Thumbs up to (coach) Kadir (Yahaya). - K Asyraf

Confidence has grown enormously since then and skill has been going ahead by leaps and bounds and of course Kadir must take the, errr, Lions' share of the credit.....no tears tonight, ...except tears of joy... - P Goodwin

Although, there's one reader who remained cautious and hope the team "don't get carry away" following the bronze winning showing.

Don't get too carried away by the result taking into account the standard of football in YOG and the fact that we lost to Haiti, a team who get to train only last two weeks and beating Montenegro is no big deal (as) they are not the world cup nation unless it's the used to be Serbia Montenegro.

I was hoping that we meet Bolivia in the final but losing to Haiti and the way they played under par I rather not they meet Bolivia.

Lastly this YOG did managed to bring the nation together and that is the ultimate motive of having YOG here in our land. Hopefully the support The Cubs had won't stop there. - Y Ibrahim

Indeed, "Y Ibrahim" had mentioned this YOG had brought the nation together and I agree with him that let's hope the support don't end there with the concluding of this Games.

I would sincerely urge all necessary efforts to keep this team intact for the years to come.

Let's not forget with the Strategic Plan that was launched months ago and the good showing from the "Little Cubs", we are actually heading on the right note (hope I'm not "carry away" for saying that).

Keep Up the Good Work, Guys!!

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WILL U STILL THERE FOR THEM? - picking up the pieces...

BEFORE
So far the response have been positive on the Little Cubs' epic performance over Montenegro. It was such a long time I last heard of something said in unison about the performance of any of the national teams.

Kudos again for the Little Cubs and credit to the coaching staff headed by Kadir Yahaya for the wonderful execution of the tactics on Thursday night.

Of course, amid all the euphoria over these boys, it also important to like what coach Kadir said the essential "to keep the feet on the ground."

(Pictured above)Headlines like this above epitomized the "feel good" feeling towards the "Little Cubs"

Yet, so much hype on the YOG football team, hope the little cubs can cope with the expectation and media should balance their writeup on the little cubs without over hype the things.

Hope the little cubs can play their normal game amid all hype around them, as unlike the last game they are now the favorite against Haiti.

AFTER

Our Little Cubs (pictured above - screengrab from TV) given everything they had in the game against Haiti.

A slip at the crucial moment saw the Caribbean scored the only goal of the night to jolt the hope of the nation, while we had several chances throughout the game, but the clinical touch in front of goal eluded us.

Kudos to the Haitian for the victory, but in a rather less-than-desired manner.

BUT the most important thing is for the fans out there - WILL YOU BE THERE FOR THE TEAM AFTER TONIGHT?

Here are some of the responds I gathered after I posted the question on my Facebook account with the screengrab.

they need our support more than ever now. it's easy to support winners but these young boys have shown enough spirit to earn my respect and support despite the loss today. they have given singapore something precious and rare - an untainted display of passion for the country on the field. this is the moment for singaporeans to show they are not just fairweather fans. let's continue building on the revival of football passion that the cubs have ignited. boys, keep your head high, for you have done your country proud! - C Ng

They played well against Montenegro and already have an eye on the final when they thought that Haiti is just a stroll in the park. Well back to ground zero dear Cubs, the ball is round and don't under estimate your opponent. Take this as an experience and learn from it. - Y Ibrahim

I just think that in our thirst for singapore football glory, we blindly placed our hopes on a group of schoolboys. i'm not belittling them but it is essentially kids football. it just got blown way out of proportion after the last match against montenegro. it is what it is and we should have let it be, but it evolved into a monster especially in the media...

But as consolation we can take heart that support for local football isn't dead. which country in the world will interrupt regular programming at prime-time to show their schoolboys team play live or have public screenings! - B Kunju

They, more than the rest of us.What they need right now is our support and get that medal which has our name on it.

We are all disappointed with their performance tonight but this team more than any other this YOG captured our imagination.

This team showed us why the Youth Olympics matters.Its bigger than winning.

It's getting a country together and showing us why sports is the greatest teacher of them all. They owe it to us getting that medal and we owe it to them being there this Wednesday. - V Subramaniam

The boys have worked really hard and we should not be faulting anyone.
They are after all 15 years old and time will progressed them. To... all fans out there, if you happens to bump into this kids, show them your support. They will always have mine no matter what. Cheers! - H Razzak

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[Event] Do You all think I deserve a chance??

(P.S: I was recently put to a task by Tiger Beer, the sponsor of the Singapore National Team, to see if I deserved a chance to win the grand prize of the "Tiger Beer Regional Online Influencer Challenge"... read on for more details...)

For one, I'm always try to make myself heard...

And that's the reason why I started this blog to share whatever my opinions and thoughts on the local game (even if sometimes it did gave me some frightening moments)..


Thanks to blogging, I got the chance to visit the Shah Alam Stadium, where one of the greatest moments of Singapore football history was written when the Lions clinched the Malaysia Cup in 1994 before breaking away to form the S.League in 1996.

Thanks to blogging, I got a chance to pass a BOCAP to my boyhood idol - former Singapore captain Fandi Ahmad (pictured above) and met one of the greatest strikers that graced the football field - Robbie Fowler, when he was here with the North Queensland Fury (pictured below).

Along the journey, I was fortunate enough to meet another legendary figure of the game - former England captain and currently the head coach of the Thailand national team - Bryan Robson (pictured below with me last year when he was here with the Thai national team for the Asian Cup Qualifiers).

Having already met one of the Red Devils greats in person... Here comes the question - SHOULD THIS WORLD RENOWNED PLAYER BELOW BE THE NEXT ON THE LIST FOR MY ALBUM? (see below)

Yes, that's him - Wayne Rooney, the Manchester United and England star striker and the Tiger Beer ambassador.

For past few days, I have been pondering if there's any similarity between Wazza and me (as it's one of the key criteria for judging), well here's what I thought...

Sourced from "Youtube"

How about that?? Same like this blog that both of us are being vocal, at times, to voice our thoughts on issues dear to us (for him, was after the booing of his own fans and for me - the issues pertaining local football).

If you guys felt I deserved a chance to go to Manchester and meet up with the man himself, please kindly drop a comment using your REAL NAME with URLs to your social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. (as required by the contest organizers).

OR alternatively, you may simply just move your mouse over the image below and click it (which will accumulate the number of "buzz" generate from this entry).


WISH ME LUCK and THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT...

(copyrights of the picture of Wayne Rooney belongs to Tiger Beer.)

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They just wanna PLAY football, They just wanna SEE football...

I think the title of this post should be suffice to describe the mood at the Jalan Besar Stadium just now when a near-capacity crowd of 5,850 (based on what the stadium announcer said over the PA system).

(Pictured above) A shot of the crowds at the Gallery of the stadium before the kick-off

Anyone who were at the ground just now, would tell you it was either their first time witnessed this kind of fiery atmosphere (some would say still existed in school games' finals) OR they would tell you it was such a long time they LAST had this kind of atmosphere in any Singapore game featuring any of the national teams, be it the senior or their juniors - the national U15 who triumphed over their much bigger-built opponents from the Balkan state of Montenegro in the YOG's Group D fixture and saw them clinched the top of their group.

Twitvid of the celebrations after the victory over the Balkans
(sorry for the quality as compression was necessary to load the video fast in the first place)

(Pictured above) The "Little Cubs"acknowledged the supporters after the game...

Perhaps, one fan who shared his thoughts on this blog's Facebook group would probably explained why could such a passion ignite in this match.

S.League does have good matches. its just that people cannot find an identity with the clubs. when it comes to Singapore matches its different, because its country. so its easier for people to come and support. has been like that since Malaysia Cup days. - Gale Gan

While a S.League club official whom I met at the end of the match more or less echoed Gale's thought by added

This is real passion which presently the S.League don't have!

It simple as the boys just wanna play football and the fans just wanna see football.. Purely and simple as that.

Well, isn't that case?

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