It's that simple actually that saw Los Rojiblancos in town

Not in their usual stripes as Atletico were in black

The whole thing is actually that simple when Atletico Madrid, upon wining the King's Cup days ago , decided to fly half the earth to tropical Singapore for one purpose - to help raise fund for the Singapore Olympic Foundation (SOF) on the invitation by businessman Mr Peter Lim.

In such a match that rarely having Singapore football fans getting up close to see some of the finest in the game since the torn down of the old National Stadium, it is definitely having to see the best of what we have to pit against a quality opponents such as the Los Rojiblancos with a balanced mixed of players from the S.League and the Lions XII.

Former Lions skipper Indra Sahdan (red) in action

1st half skipper Shahril Ishak let down by poor touches up front

So in the end, it's just that simple when superstar Radamel Falcao, who is set to depart Madrid after the end of the La Liga season, and his mates descended days ago to fulfil their charitable obligation in the SOF-Peter Lim Charity Cup to raise funds to help those financial challenge students who are sportingly gifted.

Of course, the timing of their visit came at a time when Atletico are still in the midst of their domestic campaign that is entering crucial period, which some quarters questioned if the timing is suitable to have a game at this point, which both physical and mentally demanding for them?

Rosman Sulaiman (12) won the aerial duel against Falcao

Falcao (in black) being dispossessed by the sea of reds

For that I am sure Atletico had weighted their options before undertaking such a decision with promise to fly in their best squad for this exhibit match had shown their sincerity.

In which I felt the last 30 odd minutes of the game did allow the 7,048 fans being treated to some football feast (like those they saw on TV) when the guests decided to replace almost their entire outfield players much to the crowds' delight with the emerging of Falcao on the pitch.

Ahmad Latiff (right) back from international hiatus after a long break

Geylang International's Jozef Kaplan started the game well

Atletico coach Simeone felt it was a competitive match

On the hindsight, the local side barely let the home crowds down by holding the La Liga side for large part of the game for having conceded a goal in each half of the game with goals from Raul Garcia and Diego Costa.

When asked if any local boys could make the cut in European, Atletico coach Diego Simeone didn't really give an outright answer, although he added it's hard to access Hariss Harun's European prospect just based on one game he saw of him, despite being impressed by the supposedly Portugal-bound Lions XII midfield mainstay.

Following the match, the Spaniards will pack their bags and head home to Madrid to complete the remaining domestic fixtures.

Release of Fixtures and Schedule of the Starhub League Cup 2013

Below are the screen-grab of the fixtures and schedule of the 2013 Starhub League Cup issued by the League Authority on the 20th May 2013, for your reference and guide. (P.S: Please refer to the official site for any changes or update of the fixtures)

The Group Stages

The Knock-Out stages 

Can Stange work with Syllabus?

Looking back to the events leading to the announcement of the new Singapore national football team coach Bernd Stange this evening at Jalan Besar Stadium is anything but surprising.

It's not because the identity was already made known days or weeks earlier, in fact, the name of the German coach started to trickle in after lunchtime when various social media platforms having hints suggested the former Iraqi national coach would be the Raddy Avramovic's replacement.

And with the scheduled press conference lining up to officially unveiled the identity of coach Stange seems redundant when the broadsheet “The Straits Times” decided to break the news instead, when they tweeted the news at 1655hrs (as illustrated) to confirm the appointment.

Following that the name “Bernd Stange” seems to trigger the curiosity of those in the local football fraternity with various postings surfaced related to his background and appointments prior taking the post in Singapore.

With several jokingly suggested that Bundesliga clubs' recent success in the Champions League, the recruitment of the 65-year-old as the Lions' coach could see local football heading to the right path after clinching the AFF Suzuki Cup last December.

Whether or not is he able to deliver what he's being assigned to, coach Stange must be mentally prepared to see the difficult tasks ahead for him when the developing pool is so concentrated with the lack of pluralism could see his work met with some obstacles.

Also not forgetting what another newspaper, TODAY, suggested on 20th April that “Will he (coach Stange) endorse what has already been thought out and in place, chiefly the National Football Syllabus launched in 2010.” citing the one of the cornerstones of the “Strategic Plan”.

Which, of course, imply how close coach Stange is ready to work hand in hand with the author of the syllabus, FAS Technical Director Slobodan Pavkovic whose role is, of course, help to lay down the groundwork to ensure the conveyor belt is well oiled to product enough footballing talents for the country that seems to hit the kerb in recent years.

“While I recognize that the task ahead will not be easy, I am confident and I believe my experience at the international level and contacts in the game will be an asset to Singapore football. I understand the constraints and challenges faced by the national sports associations in Singapore, including FAS, and I urge all stakeholders to support us and work together as a team as we strive to optimize our resources and maximize our success. I am looking forward with excitement to playing a role to further develop football in this beautiful country.” said Coach Stange in the news report published on the official FAS site that announced his appointment.

With those words, we hope the German tactician is well-prepared for the tasks ahead and not to forget this – Welcome to Singapore, Coach and Good Luck.

Jonathan and Guntur propelled Wolves to the League Cup

Jonathan's (facing camera) equalizer set the pace for Wolves's win 

With goals from former S.League players Jonathan Xu and Guntur Djafril in each half coupled the late strike by Haziq Sudhir that hammered the last nail to the coffin, NFL Division Two side Admiralty FC secured the last ticket to the Starhub League Cup by staging an upset over Singapore Recreation Club (SRC) of Division One with 3-1 scoreline at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

Little would expected from the Wolves decked in black outfit when they conceded a goal in 20th minute that witnessed Shaiful Fauzi placed the Padang side on the pole position in the Playoff Final that saw the two finalists emerged after shrugging off their opponents last week on the same ground.

Guntur Djafril (in black outfit) was Admiralty's another goal scorer

One of SRC's  (blue-yellow shirted) miscued offences

Nonetheless, it was a composed and confident show put by Admiralty towards the end of the game that saw the scrappy play forward that derailed any effort by SRC and led to the exit door, although Mahmod Hashim's expulsion in the second period of play was the only blemish in the courageous show by the reigning Division Two champs.

Admiralty's Coach Rozaidi Zainal (right) drawn his team to Group A

Following the playoff final, Admiralty were made known of their fate in the "Heartlanders Cup" with the draw that was immediately conducted at the VIP Lounge of the stadium in the presence of the VIPs, representatives and supporters from most of participating clubs.

Joining them in the Group A are Harimau Muda (seed team), Woodlands Wellington and Home United with defending Cup holders Brunei DPMM are seeded in Group D alongside Balestier Khalsa and Warriors FC.

While the rest of the teams were drawn into other groups as illustrated below.

The 2013 StarHub League Cup will be kicking off in June and details of the fixtures will be released in due course.

StarHub will broadcast the StarHub League Cup final ‘live’ on SuperSports Arena (StarHub TV Channel 112/201). SuperSports Arena is a complimentary sports channel available to all StarHub TV customers. Viewers can also watch the ‘live’ matches on any Internet-enabled PC, Mac, iPad or tablet on TV Anywhere at www.starhubtvanywhere.com.

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURE AND THE DRAW

(Additional details extracted from the media release issued by S.League SBU)