you can't afford to "tak ada apa" for long, Geylang!!! (edited)

Lining up before the start...

Just back from the Choa Chu Kang Stadium after witnessed the 2-0 victory by the defending champions SAFFC over Geylang United.

Now, straight to the point.

In their pre-season seminar, Patrick Ang, the Geylang chairman proclaimed it's "time to get back to the elite group".

As usual, before the start of every game.

Having seen their performance against the supposedly-fatigued Warriors, who been playing a game every three days since the start of the season, I can't help but wonder if Geylang are moving into the groove in bid to achieve their target?

The lack of creativity in their attacking plays and the unforgiven errors by the defence in conceded the two goals are telling signs that they can't afford to repeat those mentioned blunders again, if they want to return to the "elite".

Conceded two goals in a space of two minutes.

Yes, it may be only two game-old into the new season, however the Eagles should well aware that they should not leave everything to the last minute (liked what happened in the past)!!

Or perhaps, the Eagles supporters should changed their cheers from "tak ada apa" (nevermind), whenever they are losing or lag behind, to something more inspiring to spur their team on.

If not, it might be the same old story year in and out again...

(P.S: the photos were taken by "Cloud" of Kallangroar.com and many thanks to her for allowing me to use them here.)

one step away and.......

SAFFC's players and officials "get-together" before the start

There was some light drizzling at the Jalan Besar Stadium before the start of this crucial fixture that would see SAFFC becoming the first team from Singapore to join the elites in the financial lucrative ACL proper.

Like what PSMS Medan's skipper Elie Aiboy lamented during the pre-match media conference on having to play on the new surface of the stadium, the Sumatrans started the game slowly in trying to adapt themselves on this alien pitch.

Thus, this had allowed the Warriors, who were also playing for first time on the new surface, to lay a siege in the visitors' half.

Therdsak Chaiman's low piledriver in the 36th minute proved to be the ice-breaker of the match, when he nicely-latched onto an Ahmad Latiff's pass to give the Warriors the lead in an otherwise dull and uninspiring start to the game.

Defensive lapse in 51st minute allowed Elie Aiboy to slip through a splitting pass that saw Costas Mario Alejandro to level the scores, hence announced the defensive plot of the Warriors that planned for the second half had somehow backfired!!

Must be some sort wake-up call to the Warriors that they decided to revert to their much accustomed offensive play and saw the men in blue not given a penalty after John Wilkinson was clearly tripped in the box in the 54th minute, thus denied the Warriors a chance from regaining the lead from the spot.

Ahmad Latiff came close in the 76th minute to claim the advantage when his header missed the target by a few inches wide, following a well-connected cross from the left from Shaiful Esah.

With nothing spectacular happened further that, the match proceed to extra-time, much to the dismay of the 2,462 folks at the ground, who thought they were in for an easy cruise over the domestically struggling Medan side.

SAFFC's fans salute their heroes

Likewise, it was a slow start when the game resumed for the extra-time until livewire Ahmad Latiff scored from an acute angle to give the home team the much-need morale boaster and eventually the winner in the 98th minute.

PSMS Medan coach Liestiadi Lo (right, in green jacket)

"Winning or losing is normal in the game, but I'm disappointed to see two of players being sent off and I felt the referee had sided the home side on a few occasions." said PSMS Medan coach Liestiadi Lo after the match.

"The players had put in 100% effort in their performance which I couldn't asked for more, furthermore this being the first time we played on artificial surface" added coach Lo.

The local media lauded coach Bok before the start of his media session.

"I'm satisfied with the team's play" said SAFFC's coach Richard Bok when he met the media inside the FAS boardroom.

"It's gonna be tough (in the group stages), as one is the K-League champions (Suwon Samsung Bluewings), the other is the J-League champions (Kashima Antlers) and also Shanghai Shenhua from China.

"The important thing is we want to play our best and learn from this experience" as coach Bok concluded his media session.

Calling from Nigeria

Just got two emails from Nigeria.

The one below is from a football agent, as what he claimed, said that he has a group of players ready to ply their trade here.



And following that, a player also wrote in and said he's played in number of tournaments in Nigerian and aboard.


So any clubs or whosoever are keen (or ready to take them in), please let me know and I will forward the emails to you guys..

[ADV] BOCAP for SALE...finally

After much deliberation, I finally decided to put "BOCAP" (pronounced as "BOH-CHUP") for sale (it was meant to be that way but the only question was selling at what price?).

Since having this micro-fibre cap, I been wearing it as a sort of "walking advertisement" (like what AirAsia boss Tony Fernandez always do) at work and at matches in attempt to create some awareness for this blog.

The main idea behind "BOCAP", as mentioned before, is to market this blog and generate some funds for the maintaining of it to ensure its long-term sustainability.

However, the fund was limited when I decided to push ahead for this project (having to dip into my savings for it) that frankly I will not earn much for this venture, as it'll be just enough to cover the cost of production since only 50 caps will be available for sale.

Having said all these... HERE's the PRICE OF EACH "BOCAP" - S$12 ($11+$1-being "handling charge") Ok, ok... some of you may scoffed at the price of it especially times are bad now but it's ok as I don't expect this cap to be a hot selling item.

However, if you decided to own one of the 50 for sale, your kind patronage will be greatly appreciated, thank you.

Please kindly email me at kopohui@bolasepako.com for details on payment and delivery of the cap..

WHILE STOCK LAST..thanks

"We need to start well in the league as well..."

The defending champions SAFFC, fresh from their mid-week ACL victory, is back in town to kick start the defending of their league title with perennial minnows, Balestier Khalsa being their first opponents for the season 2009.

Credits to my hometown club that they hold the Warriors at the bay until veteran striker Aleksandar Duric broke the deadlock in the 36th minute with a well-taken shot, after chested down a long pass from the middle of the park, from outside the box.

Following the penalty and a strike in the second half, SAFFC collected all the three points at stake.

PICTURES FROM THE MATCH

This "abang" requested to have this picture taken, well here you go, 'bang.

The Balestier players being ushered to the field, amid the cheers of the cheerleaders

Some would felt here offered the better view of the game.

Ahmad Latiff was tripped in the box and awarded the spot-kick.

Skipper Aleksandar Duric made no mistake from the spot.

The Tigers' cheerleaders in action...

The Warriors' fans jubilant after their heroes walked away with all three points.

"It's important to start well in the league (other than doing well in the ACL), so which is why I need to field my best XI" said SAFFC's coach Richard Bok (middle)

The Tigers having their "warming-down" session after the game.

Balestier's coach Nasaruddin Jalil admits that the lack of a playmaker like SAFFC's Therdsak Chaiman eluded the fluency in the Tigers' play, but he's glad that having faced the defending champions and Home United in their upcoming match will help to gauge the progress of his young team.

Testing the new surface....

View of the new playing surface from the top-tier of the Jalan Besar Stadium.

Sengkang Punggol - the "team of the moment" (at this point of time) posed for this pre-match shot

Close-up action of the match, near the tunnel.

Anything could have happened from this corner.

The Bulls' cheerleaders in action.

I hope things will improve as the season progress, and for the benefit of doubts that this match failed to inspire a lot of the folks at JBS and at home because of "first match jittery".

But don't leave it too late and blame everything on luck or whatsoever as we, the fans, aren't that naive to buy those excuses anymore.

From an overseas perspective (again, it's real this time)

Remember Mr Renato Andreão, the Brazilian journalist who helped me to interview Egmar Goncalves weeks ago?

This time round, Renato is back again with two S.League-related articles he filed not long ago.

The first article (screen-shot above) is a preview of the on-going season. (Click here to view the article and unless you understand Portuguese, do use "Google Translate" to view in English)

This is the second year in running that Renato wrote about his preview on our local league (with some inputs from yours truly :P - thanks for mentioning me, Renato).

The interesting part of the article is it also gave the insights on the locations where the clubs based, eg :"Location: Choa Chu Kang, died here the last tiger in Singapore in the 1930s." (Nice one, my friend)


While the second article featured Gombak United's Nigerian star Gabriel Obatola. (Click here to view the article and unless you understand Portuguese, do use "Google Translate" to view in English)

"OJ" tells Renato about the new coach of the club, Darren Stewart and the impact of Precious Emuejaraye's exit, who since left the club to join Woodlands Wellington.

CONFIRMED and well done, alternative

So based on the screen-shot above, I guess more or less the issue is settled with national skipper Indra Sahdan Daud joining Sengkang Punggol on a year-deal.

A check on the online editions of "TODAY" and "The Straits Times" to check if they got the news and also whether had Indra quit the police force in order to sign for the Dolphins but unable to source for any sign of it.

Already since yesterday, the guys at "Kallangroar" had been speculating this "news of the year" however since there's NO confirmation out from the official source or the mainstream media, everybody seems to be holding back themselves.

However, I felt sometimes it's not necessary to wait for the "official" announcement or the mainstreamers to confirm everything, if the "alternate" media had the words and the fact first, way beforehand other did, by all means - break it!!

Which is why effort by the guys behind "Fish out of Water" should deserved all the credits for confirmed everything for us,

Well done, guys

Bore and Cautious...

The billboard that informed the season opener

It wasn't hard to note the ruckus at the stands at Tampines Stadium just now, following a 0-0 draw between Tampines Rovers and Home United in this season 2009 opener.

But both teams seems to be please with the draw, as according to both Tampines' coach Vorawan Chitavanich and his Home United counterpart PN Sivaji.

PICTURES FROM THE MATCH

I decided for a switch and mingled around with the fans who sat across the main stand, before switched to my usual slot at the main stand to relief my chronic backache.

Consider not a bad turnout as 3,377 fans turned out at the stadium to catch the showdown of these two title contenders, who decided to ditch aside their usual style of play and opt for a new tactic.

Unfortunately, things don't really turned out well with both sides struggled to put up a good showing and also saw Peres De Oliveira screwed his spot-kick after referee Abdul Malik order the penalty to be taken again.

The usual post-match ritual of the Tampines Rovers

"We had many chances (to score) in the second half but being the first game (of the season), I happy with the draw", said Tampines Rovers' coach Vorawan Chitavanich after the match.

His counterpart PN Sivaji said, "It was a fair result as both teams try to win, I pleased with the boys' performance and for the fact that our defence had done well to contain (Tampines' strikers) Noh Alam Shah and Qiu Li "

Wanted: Early pace-setters

(Picture on the left: with the league trophy, it's very pretty heavy, precaution required if you ever got a chance to lift it!! Many thanks to Mr Samuel Panthradil for making this picture possible in Oct 2005)

Although the ultimate target is the league championship, it's equally important as well to be the early pace-setters too.

Being the team that set the momentum right from the start is so important that it could decide whether the big guns would eventually catch up and grab the prize OR the team itself able to last the whole campaign and create a surprise of its own (which is or was never the case anyway).

Young Lions did it in 2006, Super Reds were the stars of last season and on both occasions SAFFC, with all its might and discipline, were crowned the champions in the end.

It's fair to say that the fact pace setters WILL NEVER be crowned as the champions, still its role is significant in creating the buzz that is necessary to keep everyone at the edge of their seats.

So who would be? Here some whom I can think of.

"Yes, we can" as Sengkang Punggol gathered around before the start of their match.

The possible inclusion of national skipper Indra Sahdan Daud may make Sengkang Punggol an instant pace setters but not necessary title contenders, despite several major signings during the close season.

Lim Tong Hai, Geylang's head coach for the second time, awares of the challenges ahead in getting back to the "top"

Geylang United are equally eager to end their years of "wilderness" when chairman Patrick Ang declared it's time for the Eagles to "get back to where they belonged".

Tampines Rovers' coach Vorawan Chitavanich's pledged to end the title drought (above in white top) with his new set of players, although he stop-short in commenting his future what if he failed to do so, is another potential candidates.

Or could it be the likes of Woodlands Wellington?

The Woodlands Rams, with its scaled-down budget, had assembled a relative decent squad with likes of Precious Emuejarye, Rezal Hassan, Jamil Ali etc. (anyone disagree? Please voice out) thus it would be interesting to know how new gaffer Nenad Bacina, with his fresh approach, can create wonder out of this team.

Or Balestier Khalsa is the unlikely one?

For years, the unglamorous Tigers been prided itself as a "grooming" and responsible to revive the careers of players such as Akihiro Nakamura (now Tampines Rovers after years at Woodlands) and Norikazu Murakami (released by SAFFC last season though).

Balestier's Coach Nasaruddin briefing his players

The Toa Payoh-based outfit for years stubbornly refused to make any big signings and placed its faith on youngsters but inevitably developing players for other clubs (as they will never stand a player's way if they decided to leave the club).

But the fact that Balestier is probably the only club that started their preparation as early as in last December by having a bulk of their players passed the compulsory Beep test then bore the testament this is a club know what's it's doing even in times it doesn't seems to be in sync with the rest.

But at the end of the day, while everybody is wondering who will be the champions, yours truly is equally curious who will lit up the pace as well just like Chris Brasher and Chris Chataway did for Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister (picture above, courtesy of "road of stone" ) in become the first man to run a mile in less than four minutes in 1954.

Pre-Season Press Conferences: Tampines Rovers & Super Reds

Made it to the final last two of the teams' pre-season press conference held at the NFA conference room at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

Tampines Rovers were the first team being introduced to the media with coach Vorawan Chitavanich, newly-installed skipper Fahrudin Mustafic, Thai winger Sutee Suksomkit, striker Qiu Li, veteran Zulkarnaen Zainal and new French signing Croissant Benoit in attendance.

PICTURES FROM THE PRESS CONFERENCE

The Stags (in blue L-R) : Zulkarnaen Zainal, Sutee Suksomkit, Fahrudin Mustafic, coach Vorawan Chitavanich, Qiu Li and new signing Frenchman Croissant Benoit.

"We try, we try to win the championship" pledged coach Vorawan Chitavanich (middle), with skipper Fahrudin Mustafic on his right and Qiu Li on his left.

The new Stags French signing Croissant Benoit (above) gave some insights on his background, journeyman Benoit started his professional career in France that later saw him earned his living in England with Sheffield United (2001), Holland, Bahrain etc.

And through former Singapore national player R Sasikumar, the Frenchman came to know the S.League and praised the "level of play is high".

The Stags contingent was later joined by new assistant coach Rafi Ali (fourth from left) for the photo session.

"Okay, guys look up and s-m-i-l-e" said the photographer.

Following the end of Stags' press conference, the Korean-based Super Reds were the last team to have their pre-season introductory session.

Former team-mates at Home United - Sutee Suksomkit had a chat with Super Reds coach Jeon Kyeong-Joo (in white top on right).

Super Reds went through a major overhaul in their team with only seven players retained from last year's squad.

Despite that coach Jeon is confident that this newly-assembled squad of less than two weeks can match the feat of their predecessors that clinched the runners-up spot last season.

The Super Reds' photo shot before they rushed off to Hougang for their friendly fixture against Sengkang Punggol.

When asked why the major reshuffle of good squad they had last year, Coach Jeon replied it's nothing to do with the on-going economic downturn but some of the last season's players having problem in acclimatise themselves here in Singapore.