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Showing posts with the label Singapore national team

[Telegram Chat] - 𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐀 ππ”π„π’π“πˆπŽπ 𝐈𝐍 ππ”πŽπ‘π€ 𝐎𝐍 π’πˆππ†π€ππŽπ‘π„ π…πŽπŽπ“ππ€π‹π‹

How things got worse for Singapore football (AI-generated image) [Quora] - WHY HAS THE SINGAPORE NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM BEEN SO ATROCIOUS IN THE LAST FEW YEARS? There were a few opportunities in the past when we could have built on after winning those ASEAN titles . It should have been a natural progression to see us move forward to compete with the rest of Asia rather than remain in stagnancy at the ASEAN level. Unfortunately, the participation of “Lions XII” in the Malaysian League during 2012–2015 seems to accelerate the declining process. Mainly because most of the Singapore national players during that period played for Lions XII. While there were some successes for the team like clinching the Malaysia League title and the Malaysia FA Cup, it came with a heavy price. During that period (2012–2015), most of the national players did not have a chance to play in the AFC tournaments (i.e.: AFC Champions League, AFC Cup ). As such, these players missed the opportunity to play against v

1977 - The Best Year In Singapore Football?

It was probably one of my earliest vivid memories when as a child watching a player in a light blue jersey dribbling a ball on television at my maternal grandfather's home. As I grew up, it was made clear to me that it could be one of the Singapore national team's matches held at the old National Stadium that had all the eyeballs of many households around the island glued to the screen to cheer the Lions on. The Admiral Blue jersey worn by Samad Allapitchay (left) is one of my earliest memories (Asian Soccer)   Based on my intuition, the moment could be somewhere in 1977 - the year which is still fondly remembered by many as the heyday of Singapore football. Interestingly, this blog posted a few posts related to occurrences that happened during that year which witnessed some of the highs and lows of the local game. So here is a recap of some notable incidents in that year. FANS CALLING FOR UNCLE CHOO TO BE REPLACED  In the weeks leading up to the new calendar year, a petition

Singapore's 1987 "Malaysia Cup" Squad

This souvenir program Alas, how time flies – 1987 was the year this handbook was published by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), and to serve as a guide to Singapore's Malaysia Cup campaign that year. It was given to me by an aunt of mine more than 30 years ago when I was a primary school kid. I remember the idea behind the original blog post before repurposed to this present form was because I was asked by a friend if I got pictures featuring Singapore national team from the yesteryears. A sense of nostalgic sentiment flows as I flipped through the pages and was pretty shocked to see Fandi Ahmad playing against us (only to realize that he was earning a living as a professional footballer turning out for Federal Territory (FT) later Kuala Lumpur FA). The Lions of 1987 The centerfold of the souvenir magazine is the team photo taken at the old National Stadium. Mr Wong Kan Seng's message Former Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng was the then Minister for Community Dev

[Annual Review] - Having The Same "Fried Rice" Served (again) by Perry Ng, etc.

Why are we repeating? I have to be brutally honest on this - I really see no point in coming up with this year's "Annual Review" when most of the stuff that I going to talk about are mere repetitions all along. YOUNG LIONS Seems like much of what happened in the past twelve months stayed largely status quo with the Young Lions remaining bottom at the Singapore Premier League (SPL) table for another year. To make things worse when the bulk of the Young Lions that formed the SEA (South East Asian) Games squad got hammered 7-0 by arch-rivals Malaysia  (highlights below from Mediacorp Youtube channel ), it triggered a massive public outrage on how things went bad to worse. The above-mentioned coupled with that disastrous AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup outing months earlier did little help but more damage to the beleaguered sport which used to be a focal point of the nation in the long-gone past. CONVENIENCE SOURCE FOR MEME Instead, local football relegated itself to be a sour

"Some Thought Singapore Could Beat Arsenal"

I met up with a reader who emailed me shortly after I posted the piece on the Metro 20th Anniversary Tournament back in March. In his email, he mentioned he has a copy of a magazine that included some write-ups and pictures from those matches played in the 1977 quadrangular. I visited his abode after accepting his invitation to take a look at the said magazine. The magazine turned out to be "Asian Soccer" with the late Mohd Noh , in action wearing the legendary Admiral blue outfit, fronting the August 1977 cover. The feature on the Metro 20th Anniversary Tournament (Asian Soccer) The features of the Metro Tournament were incorporated in that above-mentioned magazine which consisted of a picture of the trophy of the competition on the same page that included a team photo of Yugoslavian titans Red Star Belgrade , one of the four participants of the quadrangular. "UNJUSTIFIED" AND "NOT IMPRESSED" The first page of the aforementioned included the starting par

"Matchpix" - Sep 2023

International Friendly - Singapore 3-1 Chinese Taipei 120923 Lionel Tan (9) scored again for Singapore  Singapore ended their winless streak by beating Chinese Taipei 3-1 at the Bishan Stadium. The victory was even sweeter for the Lions, as this was their first victory over the Blue Wings after losing back-to-back in their previous meetings. Scorers: Ange Samuel Kouame 29' | Song Uiyoung 42' (P), Lionel Tan 65', Shawal Anuar 82' PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE PICTURES SGPL - Albirex Niigata (Singapore) 5-0 Hougang United 160923 Albirex Niigata (Singapore) - SPL champions 2023  It wasn't an ideal result for Hougang United Football Club who must quickly regroup themselves from this crushing defeat by Albirex Niigata FC Singapore before they begin their AFC Cup campaign in days to come. The reigning champions were presented the Singapore Premier League trophy shortly after a show of appreciation to both Tadanari Lee and Hyrulnizam Juma'at whom both will

[Telegram Chat] - π’πŽπŒπ„ π“π‡πŽπ”π†π‡π“π’ 𝐎𝐍 ππŽπ’π“ 𝐒𝐄𝐀 π†π€πŒπ„π’ π‘π„π•πˆπ„π–

Based on those " recommendations ", it is not hard to tell a thing or two where and why our SEA Games footballers failed to perform up to expectations. Coach Raddy was the last coach to guide Singapore to success • SPL NOT UP TO MARK When one of the findings mentioned 'tournament (SEA Games) was played at an intensity “beyond that of the” SPL.' , it has proven that SPL (Singapore Premier League) does not provide the necessary environment and pace to gear our players to play at a higher level usually demanded at the international levels, be it the SEA Games or any international tournaments. • RADDY ALREADY SAID SO Which the reason why former national coach Raddy Avramovic once said the importance of our clubs to do well in regional tournaments such as the AFC Cup, as players would gain the necessary exposure at club levels by playing in those tournaments and would adapt the pace easily when they came to play for the national team, if selected. • POOR FUNDAMENTALS   On

1965 MALAYA CUP FINAL

1965 Malaya Cup Final match programme It was a blessing to get my hands on the souvenir match programme of the 1965 Malaya Cup Final, a piece of football history that is so meaningful to Singapore's football history. The significance of it is that this was the last time Singapore won the esteemed tournament as a member of the Federation of Malaysia before the Separation on 9th August 1965, and it was barely less than two weeks before the expulsion took place when the match was played on 31st July at Merdeka Stadium in Kuala Lumpur. In his foreword, Tengku Azman Shah, the then regent of Selangor, wrote that this booklet should not just serve as a guide for the match itself, but also allow future generations to appreciate and understand the history and development of the game in Malaysia (which included Singapore at the time of publication). Foreword by Tengku Azman Shah (from programme) Besides the Selangor prince, other dignitaries who penned their forewords in this souvenir progr

"Matchpix" - May - Jun 2023

 SGPL - Lion City Sailors 3-2 Albirex Niigata (S) 210523 LCS' GK Zharfan Rohaizad got ahead of ALbirex's Tadanari Lee Lion City Sailors came back from a two-goal deficit at half-time to beat reigning champions Albirex Niigata (Singapore) 3-2 at the Bishan Stadium. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES SGPL - Lion City Sailors 1-1 Tampines Rovers 070623 Stags' Kopitovic refused a helping hand from LCS' Lopes A draw was not what Lion City Sailors and Tampines Rovers wanted in their Singapore Premier League title race, with the former missing out on narrowing the gap with the second-placed Stags and league leaders Albirex Niigata (Singapore). PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES International Friendly - Singapore 2-2 Papua New Guinea 160623 Hariss Harun (14) made sure he got it covered Both Adam Swandi and Shawal Anuar found their first-half efforts being cancelled out by the visiting Papua New Guineans in the Lions' homecoming ma

[Telegram Chat] - πŒπˆπ†π‡π“ 𝐀𝐒 𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 πˆπ“ 𝐀𝐓 ππˆπ’π‡π€π

I was flabbergasted when I realised how many sectors the organisers are going to open up for the Singapore national team 's upcoming friendly matches against Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Solomon Islands at the National Stadium (check out yourself at the SISTIC site ). Worth the effort for having games here? Gven such a small fraction to be opened up, it would be a challenging task to create the kind of atmosphere most accustomed to an international friendly, especially the spot where some of the most passionate supporters usually congregate is not one of those to-be-opened sectors. HAVING A WHITE ELEPHANT IN THE HOUSE Based on the seating plan, only a few sectors surrounding the "players' tunnel" are open for sale, and mind you those limited slots are located at the lower tier of the 55,000-seat facility. While there is a desire to see more of the Lions' matches to be staged at the National Stadium , the limited seats available for sale will make the place look lik