BoLASEPaKO.COM - A Blog on Singapore Football

Near dead Silence (Last post for year 2005) After the uproar caused by the SEA Games squad's failure to achieve something out of nothing, the local scene seems quiet lately. Except for some active discussions going on at some online local football based forums, it's relatively quiet . Osagie Ederaro had left Singapore after an impressive showing with Balestier, with words of that the negotiation for an extension had broke down between the two parties. Another Nigerian Greg Nwokolo will be headed south to ply his trade in the Indonesian league. With the news of both Ahmad Latiff and national team skipper Aide lskandar joined Johor, are probably the notable transfer news so far (and l was told the duo fitted in nicely) Maybe that's an Asian mindset or whatsoever, local fans don't really know who is going to feature in their teams until the season is about to kick off. Unlike the European clubs who always made known to the media who they are targeting at. Most of the off s...

(the logo on the left commemorated the 9th anniversary of BoLASEPaKO) I made a decision months ago to convert this website into a blog. It came at a time when the blogging community is under intense surveillance from all corners, following some high-profile cases involving some bloggers over the sensitive remarks posted by them online. Nonetheless, always strive to do something constructive without getting myself into those unnecessary hassles, especially on the legal side of things. The reasons for having BoLASEPaKO convert into a blog are mainly because of the following. Better archiving of what l had said and commented (sometimes, have to crack my brain just to recall what l said) Cut down the time and hassle of uploading, and adjusting the layout of the site (with the Blogger, it has made things easy) So would like to shift the focus of the site rather for its layout and graphics to more on its contents. "HI" THEN "LO" In short, the year 2005 started with a ban...

(Picture taken early this year, with Itimi facing the camera after the Lions final training session prior the Tiger Cup Final) These two guys been under intense scrutiny, following their far from satisfactory performance in the recently concluded SEA Games. Now following their release from the Young Lions, both Agu Casmir and Itimi Dickson will be wasting no time to seek a new employing club. Unfortunately, their current form and high wages have been the stumbling blocks. Which is why this blogger would like to ask, what if both of them can't secure a new contract, is there any aid for these naturalized citizens should they remained out of job? After all, being paid to kick the ball is probably the only thing they can do to earn a living and also being a full time sportsman, there are always risks like nagging injuries that could shorten one's career. Which is way this blogger is kind of worry, what if Agu remains an injury prone player and (touch wood!) being forced to end hi...

While we have this on going talks of having our players ply their trade in the foreign leagues. National skipper Aide Iskandar ( pictured on the left with the blogger ) will be heading to nearby Johor to join the Southern state in their quest to rejoin M-league elite. Though not as shocking as what Hasnim Haron did in the early 90's since Aide is at the sunset zone of his career. But what triggered a bigger shocker is when news were made known when prime time players likes of Indra Sahdan Daud, Agu Casmir were being targeted by other Malaysian clubs as well. Thankfully though Indra committed himself to another long term deal with Home Utd. As some commentaries pointed out it's never a wise move to play in the league across the causeway since there's a decline in playing standard and attendance (except for the Malaysia Cup final, which is still enjoying a healthy figure as told by a Malaccan who claimed the atmosphere being "havoc"). It came at a time when everybod...

The sad victory over the Burmese had just confirmed that the U-23 will be packing their bags and head for the next flight home. So what does it tells us?? Simply put it down that reputation means nothing when the two teams square off on the field. Perhaps the tag of that as a Tiger Cup winners weighted heavily on the boys and that "scourge" (complacency) crept in, thus the outcome of the disappointment. No point of finger pointing now but the team owe the nation an apology. Face the music, boys because only then you know how to become a real man.

This match was deemed redundant (99%) even before the start of it. Since the Indonesians have the advantage now, having defeated the group leaders Vietnam in the earlier match. Except for Geylang's Fazrul Nawaz's shot that gave the lead, it was another poor scrappy game for the boys. Blunt as an unsharpened pencil up front, the U-23 yet again shown the incompetence in front of the goal. While, the defence had the Lady Luck to thank for. The "open play" by the Laotians looked threatening as they pricked open the porous defence of the Singapore side. Match commentator Mark Richmond commented that he "felt sorry" for custodian Lionel Lewis, as in front of him is the "shaky" defence led by skipper Baihakki Khaizan and Precious Emuejeraye, both he felt "failed to spread the confidence around". But the end of the day, the boys' fate lays in the hands of the Laotians, hoping they could repeat the same (but sharper) display against the Indone...

(picture credit:BBC ) Tonight, we say goodbye to a very special person - George Best. The "fifth Beatle" as they called him. Despite his outstanding skills and chrisma, Best is also known for his notorious off the pitch lifestyle. While we say Goodbye to a legend, let's not forget the lessons he taught us, be it - the good or bad - from Pohui,whom only read but never see him in action (NA: wrote this as a one-off tribute to one of the greatest player who played the game.)

Singapore 0 - 0 Indonesia Just could not believe it when Sharil Ishak's shot was blocked by the Indonesian 'keeper, when it appeared that the ball was heading towards to the goal! Moments after the agony, the referee blew the whistle to call the end of the game. Much better play from the boys but it wasnt good enough as the goals were not delivered. Coach Raddy shouted his voice to hoarse (clearly audible from the television set). The draw was too much for skipper Baihaikki, as he openly wept in disappointment. The hope of making towards the semi-finals is all but almost evaporated. - Instant thoughts after viewing the game on TV

(picture above: Papers painted a gloomy picture on the U23's SEA Games campaign ) When they left for the Philippines, the expectation on the national U-23 team was high. Who could blame us for all this hype surrounding these guys, after all, they are presumed to be the best squad to be played in the SEA Games, since the football event became a U-23 tournament. Ever since, the opening defeat by the Vietnamese, all concerned parties had painted a gloomy picture on whether the Cubs will once again falter at the group stages. So much so coach Raddy had planned for an all-offensive tactics when against the Indonesians on Thursday, which l hope it's not a signal that they had pressed the panic button, (though in order to advance to the final four, we must take full maximum points from the remaining matches.) Could it be the old complacency that always haunted the boys, when they are always the favourite? Obviously, the answer is a YES.. But till now that's not the issue as the m...

Here l am writing this account from the media booth of the Jalan Besar Stadium, from where the new playing surface is visible (word of caution though, never ever do a "Jurgen Klinsmann" style of celebration on this artificial turf). Below are the pictures that were taken prior to the start of the friendly match between S.League Selection and the visiting Thai All-Stars to mark the completion of the face-lift program of the stadium which was first officially opened on Boxing Day back in 1929. The newly-laid surface was reported to cost around US$500,000 and the cost was covered by a grant from FIFA, the game's world governing body. ONE-SIDED AFFAIR TO MARK OCCASION Unfortunately, the maiden match played on this new surface was a one-sided encounter with S.League Selection walking away with a comfortable 6-0 win over the visitors who are coached by Piyapong Pue-on, the legendary Thai striker who was ranked among the best in Asia back in the 1980s. The shutout saw the hostin...

Well, just saw that the League authority had given the green light that will see the return of Gombak Utd FC, the merging of Sengkang Marine FC and Paya Lebar Punggol FC as "Sengkang-Punggol FC" plus the African-based Sporting Afrique FC. I'm not sure how the fans would react the inclusion of Sporting Afrique FC, after all, that "Planet FC" saga last year had left a pretty negative impression on these African footballers for their audacious claim they were "unbeatable". I'm glad to see the return of the Bulls (Gombak Utd) back to the scene, also hope for much better stability with the strategic alliance between Sengkang and Paya Lebar that would benefit the Hougang residents. Regrettably, Sinchi FC will still be part of the setup, which l sense those "empty promises" by this team will still be with us for yet another season. And now since the list is confirmed now, all teams are given a equal foothold to prepare their squad, l would hope ...

I'm not sure yesterday's Cup Final was my last visit to this 32-year old arena, that had brought us so many wonderful memories. Having made known that the National stadium is to be demolished next year or so, I decided to take a few shots of her before call it a day. (Above: the shot of the North stand ) (Above: Close up of the Grand stand) So long you are being seated here on these red chairs (as illustrated above ), you are having the best view of the house. Did you ever stomped your feet here to attribute the "Kallang Roar" whenever Singapore score?? (shot of the South stand) As the day draw to a close, here is what you expected to see, right outside of the press area - part of the Singapore skyline. Once, the sky is dark, it's another scenery ..

As the final whistle blew to call the end of the 2005 Singapore Cup final, Singapore football bid farewell to probably one of the finest coach that graced the land. Steve Darby - Love him or Hate him, let us not forget those colourful moments he shared with us. Known for his outspokenness that had restored a bit of vibrancy into the scene since the mellow down of R Vengadasalam, the former Rams manager (now at Tampines Rovers) However it was also his outspokenness that landed him into some troubles with the league authority, which were well-documented. (eg: his comment on the mandatory Beep test) Despite those negative issues, one must not forget he had restored the pride of the Protectors, that was badly bruised after the departure of Dutchman Roberts Alberts, who was succeed by Englishman Jason Withe, before Darby stepped in to replace Withe. Personally, I must say thanks to coach Darby for "introduce" me to the "real world of that of a journalist", after a match ...

(Unless I'm pretty sure of the topic I'm going to pen, if not I will place a "?" at the back of the headline) At the stroke of full time, the beleaguered (for this season) Home Utd salvaged their bruised pride and snatched the Singapore Cup, after came from behind to beat the star-studded Woodlands Wellington, who is still searching for their first piece of silverware since the start of the League. Indra Sahdan Daud saved the day for the 12000 fans (and the media folks, pictured on the left) at Kallang by netted home the winning goal on the 93rd minute. Sad to say, this victory marked the end of the career of Thai midfielder J Surachai and the departing of Lion's skipper Aide Iskandar and coach Steven Darby from the Bishan stadium. While Man of the Match Indra refused to elaborate his next move, despite of the speculation surrounded him, during the post-match press conference.

This coming Sunday will feature two of the cream of the crop of the local football. As coach Steve Darby will lead his charge out of the tunnel for the last hurray against the underachievers Woodlands Wellington, let's hope it will be a spectacular matcha one will never forget. Yes, it has been long season especially for the likes of Indra, Aide, Subramani, Bennette, Tat Chuan and etc, who been playing almost non-stop since last season. Definitely, the fatigueness is there.. But as the stage is set at the "Grand Old Lady" - the National Stadium. The same venue where the Lions lifted the Tiger Cup. Surely, the fans aren't gonna given a sloppy game for the setting of that of a Cup Final. Lionel Lewis should remember that day, when he picked the ball out of the goal eight times years back, when he played for Geylang Utd in one of those Cup Final .

(Picture on the left, M C of the night Bernand Lim warming up the audience prior the start of the night.) Was one of the privileged few to attend this gala event, which was held at the Mediacorp TV Theater. Noh Alam Shah was named the "Player of the Year", while his striking partner Mirko Grabovac took the top scorer award as well as the "Player of the Decade" award. Pin-up boy Issey Nakajima of Albirex Niigata wrapped up the "Young Player of the Year" award. Pretty innovative in the way the organiser announced the list of nominees, especially, the "Coach of the Year" awards, which drew laughter from the house. In which, the five nominees (Ie: Young Lions' Fandi Ahmad, Albirex's Ichiro Otsuka, SAFFC's Ki m Poulsen, Woodland's Karim Bencherifa and eventual winner Tampines' Vorawan Chitavanich) were being portrayed as a group of school kids in a classroom und er the mercy of the "teacher" (pictured on the right)...

Believe it or not.. the moment when the referee Mr Abdul Malik blew to signal the end of the match between the defending champions Tampines Rovers and Cup finalist Woodland Wellington - IT RAINS (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) Still the wet weather failed to deter the Stags from popping the champagne, that was supposed to open last week. With the signboard placed and presentation ready to commence, Mother Nature thought the otherwise and "advised" the ceremony to be carried on the main stand (similar to that of those happened at the Wembley stadium) Only feel sorry for the boys who had to carry the huge signboard to and fro between the pitch and the stand. Luckily, things went smoothly for them but not for me, though as the taxi that supposed to take me home, made a wrong turn and went merry-go-round before r...

F or the fact that the "grand old lady" - the National stadium is to be demolished soon to make way for the new sporting hub. I urge the fans to turn out at the National stadium for the one last time for the Singapore Cup final. The 50,000 capacity arena is the born place of the much-feared "Kallang Roar", that trumatised every visiting team. 1994 was the year l made regular trips to the stadium, joined the rest of the 50,000 fans cheering the likes of Fandi, Abbas and Co. Other than the "Kallang Wave" that made its debut in the 90's, one of the fun activities was "charge across" the Nicoll Highway (pictured on the left) after every match (some sort of victory celebration.), as the main bridge that linked from the stadium car park to the transit point (the PA HQ) to the nearest MRT station, always packed like sardines, thus many fans left with no other alternative but carried out that dangerous stunt. Of course, it was a dangerous act that l...

Sombre mood greeted this blogger when entered the Hougang stadium just now. Overheard this conversation at the entrance of the stadium that goes like this ".. Can help me to take a picture (of me) at the stadium??" said one player to his fellow mate, who declined as he was tasked to another job. 25th Oct 2005 - an another day for you and me but to some of the Paya Lebar Punggol FC's players, they could have played their last game before ever knowing where they will heading to next. Certainly, hope this sad scenario don't repeat itself again as the League authourity go through again a list of teams, which intend to join the league family next year.

Football is such as cruel game, especially for a team like Woodlands Wellington. A week ago, a win over their Cup Finalist Home Utd would have kept in the title race. Alas though, things took a sudden turn. No thanks to the flooded pitch at Bishan that caused them the game but dashed any hope of winning their first ever title. Could this a blessing in disguise?? Although the only sad thing is should that last week's game went Rams' favour, their next week match against the defending champions Tampines Rovers would have been the title decider. (Pictures taken during the warming up prior the game coupled with those poorly-coordinated drumming and blastering music that almost broke the blogger's eardrums, hehehehe )

It means - "Sinchi, go back to where you belong to !!!" After at the receiving end of a strong- worded column by the morning complimentary daily, TODAY. Let us hope this time is for REAL. As Sinchi changed their mind again about taking part in the competition at the eleventh hour, after the published of the comment by TODAY's sports editor Mr Leonard Thomas. At least, it saves us the daunting trip to the "Wild, Wild West" (Jurong stadium, pictured on the left) next year and no more those crap football dished by the Chinese-based outfit. "But I find the criticism very harsh and honestly, I feel that enough is enough. Sinchi is a guest playing in Singapore. Would you always lash out at a guest?" The above-mentioned statement (in italic) was said by Mr Wang Jinhui, the Sinchi vice-chairman. Hold on, Mr Wang, you mentioned your team is a "guest", then please kindly explain those actions like assaulting the referee in the game. Afterall, referees...

Sometimes, I wondering if those so-called EPL clubs "fans" ever thought of dreaming able to get UP CLOSE with the likes Owen, Henry and etc. I'm sure they do, unfortunately how?? Simple isn't, just book a flight to Britain and hang out at the training grounds, chances of getting a picture taken with these millionaires and autographs might be possible. But, think back these millionaires would once a while pay a visit and play some what they called " holiday football" Still remembered the eccentric Fabian Barthez, then the Man Utd 'keeper, came on as an outfield player during their tour game here in 2001? While, some may took that as a fun gesture but large number of fans felt offended as they, having paid those astronomical admission charges to see the Red Devils played a half-hearted game. Inevitably, these "holiday" fixtures months ago drew sharp criticism from the AFC. I having those mentioned thoughts after came back from Toa P...

The news about the returning of the former national coach Vincent Subramaniam to S-League had been circulated around the football circle.lately. Looks like, he is heading back to SAFFC the coming season, since the incumbent Dane coach Kim Poulsen is heading back to his native land.after the season ends. Heralded as a "hero welcome back" home seems to overshadow.the unforgettable fact about his dismal record as the national team coach. Just wondering who could forget his refusal to include the "Dazzler" V Sundramoorthy (pictured below on the left)in one of the high-profile game, thus sealed the end of Sundram's international career. A picture took with the "Dazzler", himself (who coulld ever forget that "bicycle" kick he struck against the Brunians in 1993)

It seems that not many teams, especially the title contenders, not keen with the idea of playing Albirex Niigata, at this stage of the season. Afterall, it's the fasting month of the Muslim and given the fact that most of the football players are Muslim, thus it will take some times before the players get used to the condition. Second placed SA FFC paid a visit to Jurong East stadium to pit agsinst the pacey Albirex. It looked as if, the White Swans were going to torn the Warriors apart with their pacey game. Anyway, SAFFC managed to come from behind to level the game and th erefore hang on to the title race. Of course, a game with such an intensity is definitely not without its share of boiling points. The atmosphere was fantanstic, thanks to drumming (to certain extend) and the tireless cheering from both sets of fans

For those who visited my website before, all should know that from time to time, I would definitely poke fun at the some members of the local mainstream media, particularly on their coverage on local football. Here we are several thousand miles away from the British Isle, yet our mainstream papers look as they are "part of the British media", shelling out comments, reviews and previews so long the likes of England,Chelski, Liverpools and Man Us are being featured. While at our own backyard here, the current reigning Tiger Cup champions Singapore national team are upgainst the Cambodia national team in Phnom Penh on the 11th Oct. Yet, being called itself the so-called "football paper" (if l'm not wrong), the main aftertnoon daily seems to be more concerned about the performance of the "Three Lions" rather than our very OWN Lions. Extensive coverage and comments on the English chalked up much of the back pages with almost 0% on the local game . While the...

I certainly hope you guys aren't shock for what you've seen here. That now "BoLASEPaKO" is a BLOG.(If you access the site via (http://surf.to/bolasepako ) Actually, I had been trying to change the re-direct URL, unfortunately, the host's website was down for several days that I can only change the thing this morning before going to work. Now, this blog look a bit plain and dull but no worries, l will get this place tidy up before switch back to full throttle

Just as we thought the "on-and-off" episode of Sinchi FC had closed. The news leaked out that the rookie of the year - Paya Lebar Punggol FC, is toying the idea of calling it a day. I can't help but feel sorry for the folks staying in Hougang area, for another denial of chance to see S-League football if the Seahorses decided to pull the plug. Since the start of the league, we seen the teams like Landmark Marine Castle (who pulled out at the eleventh hour, just before the start of the 1997 season, without kicking a ball),Sengkang Marine, Sinchi FC and now Paya Lebar, based in the Hougang stadium. Despite having these mediocre teams playing at Hougang (except for Sinchi FC), some of the matches were well-attended. But on the hindsight, it could well turn out to be a blessing for the league on whole. As the Seahorses' management are quick to admit that they might not have the means to continue, unlike some of those stay out clubs, struggled to put on a brave front.