Cup final back at JBS..

This was first time time that a Cup final was played on an artificial surface as Jalan Besar Stadium was choosen as the venue of the last game of the season. (Surely, they wouldn't dare to have the thought of having ANOTHER at Kallang eh?)

A minute of silence was observed to pay respect to the five members of Singapore Dragon Boat team, who lost their lives in Cambodia days ago.

True to the "Cup Final" spirit, it was a fast, furious and end-to-end match was both sides provide a game that was valued for every cent paid.

Met some of the "KallangRoar" guys after the match.. Nice chatting with you folks :)

Some snapshots of the day

Prior the kick-off outside the stadium

The poster of the Cup Final

The mandatory introduction of players to the VIPs...

The match in progress...

A minor hiccup of the day, why was the singing not over yet?? as both the officials and players waited for their turn to perform :P

Tempers flared - that's nothing usual as the game proceed into the dying moments.

Warriors fans saluted their heroes as they completed the "Double", having snatched the League title as well.

LOST and FOUND: Did someone left this behind??

S.League Awards Night 2007

Was at the S.League Awards Night 2007 moments ago and some snapshots and thoughts....

The "Blur" Host

I really have no idea where they got this host (pictured above with SAFFC coach Richard Bok).

First, she doesn’t know who Richard Bok is, what was he here for (being nominated and retained "Coach of the Year" Award).

Next, she don't know the linkage of green colour with Geylang United when she was talking to Lim Tong Hai, who had to painstaking told her it's their COLOUR!! (Thank goodness, she's not in Taiwan, if not she be blasted!)

I think the only persons she aware of were those Mediacorp "stars" (pictured above: the "Muttons" from 987FM)

Don't think she dare to mess up this one with the AP Ho Peng Kee, the FAS President (pictured above).

But Sengkang's 'keeper Amos Boon (pictured above with the lovely ladies)who covered the event for STARSPORT did a better job (he had to!)


Great stuff by emcee Mark Richmond to kick start the night with a song, which detailed the highs and lows of the season, to the extend of poking fun of several non-performers (you know who they are!)

Star presenters

Mediacorp artists Ng Hui and Charlyn Lim presented the "Fan Club" award.

I would say it's nice for these television celebrities to present the awards BUT I wish some of them could have done their homework before coming over, if not they would be making a fool out of themselves (i.e.: the "biggest" heartthrob mentioned by Richmond couple).

A repeat of last year as Aleksandar Duric clinched the top honour as the "Player of the Year" as well being confirmed as the "Top scorer" and joined the exclusive "200 goals" club.

Other snapshots of the night

"Broadway Beng" Sebastian Tan gave a wonderful performance (never seen someone could switch from Hokkien to English so smoothly)

The event hall at Suntec City (nice place as compared to the last two at Caldecott Hill)

Albirex Niigata players making their way to the event hall.

Cocktail session at the entrance of the venue hall.

Some thoughts over the media coverage..

I am one of those who clamour for more media coverage on local football.

But having seen the failure of our "another national team" to qualify for a major tournament next summer, whereas our very own Lions are just two hurdles away from the greatest show on earth, I'm not sure if my view has tweaked a little bit.

As compared to our former colonial masters, they are the media's darlings with every tipsy-bitsy well detailed for all news-hunger fans, while the Lions are hardly worth mentioned on the backpages of some dailies (unless there's a major tournament).

Perhaps, that's the crux of it?

• With the spotlights constantly hogging towards their run-up against Croatia, England (yes, aren't they being "another" national team of Singapore?) failed to make the cut to Euro2008.
• And our very own Lions quietly made it to the top 20 of Asian World Cup qualifier, with scarce media attention.

These contrasting sights remind me 14 years ago (1993) when we were still in the Malaysian League.

Back then, we saw the emerging of the "Dream Team" after we were relegated to the lower tier of M-League.

Led by Coach Mr PN Sivaji, the team, skippered by Razali Saad, comprised stars like Fandi Ahmad, V Sundramoorthy, Alistair Edwards, Abbas Saad and etc.

It was a welcome antidote to disillusioned fans then as Singapore football was declared "dead" after the team were condemned to Division Two of the Malaysian League.

With such a star-studded line-up, Kallang was filled to capacity whenever they played. Thus, no surprise media spotlight was prominent, with the players constantly featured on the sport pages.

Details of the time-table of the team's training sessions were also made known hence it wasn't surprise that training sessions at the old Jalan Besar Stadium attracted a sizable crowds included young girls trying their best to grab the attention of their idol Abbas Saad (pictured below).

Which is why the downside of such intensive coverage had taken tolls on the Lions then when they were being "pressured" to bring back the Malaysia Cup, which of course didn't happened after all.

So back to today, we seen the plight of England, are we all being reminded of the similarities happened in 1993?

And rewind a bit, two years ago... Before the start of the SEA Games in the Philippines. 2005's national U23 side was claimed to be the best bet to end the gold drought.

Who could be blamed for having that thought since those boys formed the backbone that clinched the Tiger Cup earlier that year.

With high hopes pinned on them, some massive publicity campaign went underway and you guessed it - the dismay outcome.

So the messages I would like to bring across are:-

• Yes, the local football must be given its fair share of coverage on the mainstream media.
• But the thing is we shouldn't see the undesired outcome made their unwelcome presence when things spin out of control.
• We ought to be objective and not finger-pointing around when things go haywire, which the media should play a role in educate the public about.

Agony for the Stags..

Agony shall be the best word to describe Tampines Rovers, after knowing that despite winning their last league game handsomely, they still can't have the title back.

At one point of the game, glimpse of hopes appeared right in front of them when "surprise package" - Gombak United managed to pull one back after trailing the defending champions SAFFC by two goals, while their neighbours-next-door - Geylang had levelled the scores against Home United.

Unfortunately, things turned a worse turn for the Stags when Home United performed the "Houdini act" they had perfected this season by snatching a late winner.

Instant Reaction: Shut Up your lot!!

Yeah.. just shut up.. no a single word to be uttered from your fifthy mouth!!

Those of you who thought we could not make it this far.. what do you have to say??

• SHUT UP - stop dishing out the inclusion of foreign-born players theory, only narrowed-minded lot would keep harping on it..
• SHUT UP - stop saying we are just plain lucky!! We made it after all. don't we??
• SHUT UP - If you think England is great but we are through the next stage on our OWN merit and that's the FACT!!!

Of course, we shall not get too carried away as this is just the begining of the whole journey to South Africa.

Some breathing spaces are required but simply don't mess it up because of all the euphoria that would come along..

"Toned-down" Uniformed Derby

"Is this VIP?" queried the short-sighted "uncle" usher as he examined the pass I am holding.

After much deliberation, I was allowed into Bishan stadium and to think it was already RD32, yet ushers of one of the best run clubs can't figured out who are, aren't allowed into the ground?

It was a much toned-down affair, as both sides were without the services of their national players, who were away for national duty, that the match ended in a goal-less draw (so was it right to term as "Season Finale"??).

Some Pictures on that day....

Formality before the game as both teams greeted the fans and wished each other well before the kick-off.

Quite a sizable turnout at the Bishan Stadium, despite being a live televised match on Channel 5.

SAFFC's coach Richard Bok shared his thoughts with the media after the game.

(P.s: was supposed to load it up on Friday but due to some technical delay, it's only ready by today :P)

Instant Reaction - Hey the season is not over yet!!

Hmmm... yes, this is the match that's gonna decided who is going to be crowned as the league champions BUT to term it as a season finale (as listed on the TV listing of "The Straits Times") sounded not so appropriate.

As the Singapore Cup Final is scheduled next Sunday, thus completed the whole season. wouldn't it be better to sound THAT as the "season finale"?

Anyway, different people different interpretation ...

Another nice gesture...

This time round from the Koreans.

Nobody expected their arrival at Woodlands stadium, until a group of 150 odd of them turned out around 20 minutes before the kickoff.

Donned in the red tops, these expat Koreans sure made their presence felt at the normally subtle side of the mainstand.

"Dae-Han-Min-Guk" (the official name of South Korea) as the group chanted with the aid of drums and water bottles filled with beans!!

Was told by their presumably group leader, these Koreans belong to a church organization and promised to "return next season".

It was indeed a nice effort by these expatriates, as their spirited drumming and cheering helped to spur the Super Reds on, whom unfortunately lost to Woodlands Wellington by a solitary goal.

Not bad eh, wished they had made their presence earlier, who knows if these "twelfth player" would have made a real difference.

What a shame but a really good effort anyway, kudos guys!!

The short clip of the Koreans supporters

What a nice gesture...

Albirex Niigata (Singapore) completed their home fixture after beating follow guest participants- Liaoning Guangyuan 2-0 at its Jurong East home ground.

As a show of appreciation, the playing, coaching staff of the club lined up in a straight row at the end of the match to say "thank you" to its supporters (pictured above).

Not a bad idea eh.. even if the team is not doing that well, I think it's still a nice gesture by the club.

"This one for the album, Cheese!!"

Book Review : "Japanese Rules: Japan and the Beautiful Game"

I would like to recommend a book, yes! And it's a "textbook" to be precise.

Not sure how you guys thought about it.

Nay... not those published by the Ministry of Education.

But the one as illustrated above.

In short, it traced the conceiving to the launch and the wanning of hype of the J-League, plus insights in areas such as administration, players recruiting/developing, generate publicity, creating awareness, fans participating and etc.

Not only that, it also explained why the game of football is seen as a tool to break away from the core traditional Japanese values that have been dominating all aspects of their life.

This should served as a useful reference to all involved in Singapore soccer, who might still remained clueless, how to run the game.

Yes! You may argue that the background and setting are different from ours but bear that in mind - Football was completely an "alien" game prior the introduction of the J-League.

Isn't it sad that for us, who have a richer football heritage as compared to the Japanese, still making snail-paced progression to perfection?

I am not sure if this book is on sale as I loaned it from the library at Compass Point, if I'm not wrong the Ang Mo Kio Library should have a copy of it too.

(P.S: Here's a tip - don't read the book right from chapter one, pick and choose one chapter to start instead.)

Instant Reaction: Alright , I eat my words...

How irony, they must have expecting a big turnout but with the admission priced around 50% higher, that's "Gajah Putih" for you

Ok.. Ok.. Alex Duric was great against the Tajiks...

At the age of 37, he shown he still has it and proved it!! (must have read my previous blog entry?)

With two goals to mark his international debut at the "Grand Ol' Lady" - National Stadium (Heaven knows when it's gonna tear down!!).. All I can say I eat my words..

All the best in the return-leg, Guys!!

(P.s: Duric claimed the honour of being the last goal scorer at the National Stadium - to be confirmed :P)

Some Pictures along the way The game banner at the Lobby.

I think most of the media were struggling to figure out what the Tajiks translator (the first gentleman on the right) trying to translate the thoughts of Tajiks' coach. Whereas, we are more or less accustomed to coach Raddy's accent :P

Duric call-up (what a surprise!)...

TODAY story on Duric
I think 37 year-old Aleksandar Duric should be the oldest "call-up" to national team in history.

A slight tweak in the normal "youth-prioritised" policy, coach Raddy's inclusion of Duric should gave more attacking options to the Lions.

Perhaps, the whole idea is to make use of the naturalized citizen's gigantic physical presence in the box.

Although, one must realized that international game is a different ball game (Egmar and Mirko should know why).

But feel sorry for SAFFC as it wasn't a pleasant news they wanted, as inclusion of Duric in the national team had further dealt a blow in their quest to retain the title.

Maybe, Warriors' coach Richard Bok should somehow felt the agony of what his mentor, Home United coach Vincent Subramaniam, felt. (p.s: just a cheeky thought :p)

Straits Times story on Duric

Interesting session with the referees...

Not that long ago, I was privileged to be at the seminar organized by the FAS Referees Committee.

The aim of the get-together session with the referees, coaches, media and officials was aimed to foster better understanding between various parties pertaining issues related to the laws of the game.

It was a wonderful session as attendees benefited from this short but informative session, which helped in understanding the challenges faced by the match officials in today's game.

Some pictures snapped during the seminar

FAS Referees Committee Chairman Mr Jeffrey Beh kicked start the session with a short opening speech.

The Speakers of the seminar - Mr Shamsul Maidin and Mr John Chia

John was the first speaker with everybody's "favourite"law - OFFSIDE

Shamsul covered the Laws of Foul and Misconduct, he quoted a lot of incidents from his vast match officiating experience to highlight the topic he covered.