BoLASEPaKO.com - A Blog on Singapore Football

Instead of clamouring for those good old days, I always believe one shall never dwell on things that were already long gone. Yet, the irony is we still need those past glories to inspire the newer generations to push the boundaries to do better than their predecessors. Mat Noh embraced Uncle Choo after beat Malaysia 1-0 (New Nation) PRE-WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS (ASIA ZONE GROUP ONE) IN SINGAPORE It was a time when Singapore, the host, were ranked outsiders in this tournament which featured regional powerhouses like Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia as well. How would one expect the Lions to do well against a technically superior Malaysia team who still boasted the likes of “Spiderman” R Arumugam, “Towkay” Soh Chin Aun, Santokh Singh, Wong Choon Wah, James Wong, etc. in the absence of the legendary Mokhtar Dahari who was injured? Yet a hotly-disputed penalty which was converted by Mat Noh (who was tasked by coach "Uncle" Choo Seng Quee to train on penal

Shahril Ishak roams into the box One snap (above) of Home United's Shahril Ishak like this in their recent Great Eastern Hyundai Singapore Premier League (SGPL) game against Hougang United should raise a concern about our chance in this year's AFF Suzuki Cup and the panic button should be pressed by now. WHY? First of all, take a look at this picture and what did you see? We have a free-roaming Shahril with his eyes on the ball making his way into the box in this attacking move. Any sane mind would be asking how could a veteran striker like him be given such a luxury of space by a backline? That was probably why Hougang's caretaker coach Clement Teo, seen in the background of this snap, gestured either to his back line to "watch out for Shahril!" or asked, " why no one is marking Shahril?" Eventually, both Justin Hui and Adam Mitter (who was released during the recent transfer window) arrived in time to keep the ex-JDT II skipper at bay.

Yusof B Ibrahim was among those who made their presence days ago at the International Champions Cup - Singapore (ICCSG) tournament which was held for the second time in the Lion City. Here is his summary of the tournament after catching the likes of Arsenal, Atlético Madrid and PSG (Paris Saint-Germain) in action in a space of five days at Kallang. Arsenal head coach Unai Emery The second edition of the International Champions Cup Singapore tournament (ICCSG) was held in late July at the Singapore Sports Hub with the likes of Arsenal, Atlético Madrid and PSG (Paris Saint-Germain) pitted against one another in this annual mega tournament featuring some of the biggest football clubs in the world. Early birds Arsenal arrived with a full squad which included former German international Mesut Özil who was, however, not featured in their opening match against Atlético Madrid, as new Gunners gaffer Unai Emery opted for a similar system favoured by his predecessor Arsene Wen

SGPL - Home Utd 1-0 Hougang Utd 010718 I think panic button should be pressed by now With this Great Eastern-Hyundai Singapore Premier League fixture between Home United Football Club and Hougang United Football Club (HGFC) together with the one I saw a day earlier, I would say if we are to depend entirely on this league as our main source for the team playing in the AFF Suzuki Cup, the panic button should be pressed by now. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES Friendly - Ex Internationals vs SCRC 180718 Former Lions skipper Razali Saad (left) in action This friendly match between Ex International Legends and SCRC from SMRT was played at the Jalan Besar Stadium. The former is preparing for the upcoming The Sultan of Selangor's Cup in late August while the latter is gearing up for the GSFL season. Additional photos from Mr Yusof Ibrahim. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES ICCSG2018 - Atlético Madrid 1-1 Arsenal (AM

The arrival of Singaporean footballers in Hong Kong (credit: Hong Kong Football History Society) Recently after some inquiries, I received these old newspaper clippings from the administrator of Hong Kong Football History Society , a Facebook Page which specialized in the history of Hong Kong football. It came after a few years ago when I posted some details on this blog's Facebook page that briefly described back in the 1950s, seven Singaporean footballers** were being invited by Kitchee Sports Club to play for them on a two-month stint, a  information cited from this Facebook posting in Mandarin , in Hong Kong First Division - a feat that caused quite a sensation back in those days. Based on what was mentioned in those clippings, I managed to single out names like custodian Chu Chee Seng, Foo Hee Jong, Ho Hin Weng, and the legendary striker Awang Bakar who was referred to as "Tong Wong" (唐旺) in Cantonese pronunciation. The report detailed the players