BoLASEPaKO.com - A Blog on Singapore Football

Zaiful (yellow jersey) dominated the play in his box Just like how he did in the semifinals that aided Balestier Khalsa to the RHB Singapore Cup final after knocking out Tampines Rovers on penalties, custodian Zaiful Nizam is the Tigers' star of the night again. The former Lion City Cupper put up another stellar performance for the Toa Payoh-based club in front of 6,000 at the Jalan Besar Stadium to beat defending holders Home United 3-1 to clinch the side's second honour for the consecutive season (Balestier were the League Cup winners last year). Staying true to the spirit of any Cup fixture, the designated home side did not sit back to allow their neighbours across Braddell Road to take any advantage of having a more potent frontline that would win any game on their day. Sadly though, the night did not belong to the Protectors who were left frustrated for much of the game, not just because of Zaiful's heroics, but also due to the well-marshalled backline led b

Balestier's coach Marko Kraljevic (file picture) It is by no mean an easy feat to see Balestier Khalsa's coach Marko Kraljevic to lead the unfancied Tigers to the club's second Cup Final on consecutive season. After all, the Croatian is considered a rookie for taking charge a S.League senior side for the first time in his coaching career that saw him once handled the Prime League squads of both Balestier and Woodlands Wellington in recent years. Speaking ahead of tomorrow's RHB Singapore Cup Final against Home United, their much illustrious opponents across Braddell Road, the 49-old-year appeared confident when sat down with this blogger after his team's training session at their Toa Payoh base last evening. Said the former Tampines Rovers midfielder:"I believe with the high spirit, we are having at this moment, we can win the Cup, "This is especially after we made it to the top-six of the league (after Round Two), everything started to be on

First and foremost, I would like to extend my congratulations to Warriors FC in clinching the S.League title (which they last won in 2009 when they were still known as SAFFC). Secondly, I would like to pay my compliments to Brunei DPMM for being the pace-setters for large part of the campaign that pushed the benchmark to see another nail-biting ending. End of an Era Lastly, it is for Aleksandar Duric for being such a wonderful ambassador to the local game since making his debut with Tanjong Pagar United back in 1999. Much had been said about the former Olympian's journey to this part of the world that I shan't dwell and recap that. To me, it's a great honour to know him personally and he's always have the smile on his face whenever we met. Presented a BOCAP to the legend before the match "My man!" he would always said when I would be within his sight with my camera sling around my neck. Throughout my snapping experience in local matches, h

Snap from Jurong East earlier It is down to the final fixtures of the season before we will know if Warriors, since 2009 when they were still known as SAFFC, or Brunei DPMM, joining the ranks alongside with another foreign side - Etoile FC, are to be crowned the new Great Eastern Yeo's S.League champions this coming Friday. The upcoming coronation will effectively signal the end of reigning champions Tampines Rovers' stranglehold of the title, which they held for the last three years. Ironically, the Stags will be the stumbling block for the oil-rich sultanate's only professional football club this Friday before the fate is to be decided if the latter can check-in 15-kilogram trophy over the airport counter. Meanwhile, victory by both Tampines and Warriors, who will face Albirex Niigata (Singapore), on Friday will ensure the league trophy remains within the Republic boundary. DPMM coach Steve Kean (file picture) The scenario is made possible after Albirex fa

Coach Stange (right) has a difficult time (file) So, we are facing the hard truth that after having a professional football league for close to almost twenty years, we are nowhere near to calling ourselves a PROFESSIONAL league that contributes $200 million to the local economy . In national coach Bernd Stange's eyes, some of the local players are merely "semi-professionals" and "even close to amateur" with more training needs to be done to close the gap. This was remarked by Coach Stange in an article that appeared in an online portal after the recent friendly against Juventus in which he led the Singapore Selection against the Italian giants. Al-Qaasimy in action against Juventus (file) Said the German coach in that Yahoo Sports article :  “If you’re 19, 20 or 21 years old and you’re semi-professional for a long time, like Al-Qaasimy [Rahman], who [just] came back from NS now, my expectation [ for players] should be limited,” “Now they are fre