BoLASEPaKO.com - A Blog on Singapore Football

To the players of both Orange County (pictured above, in orange jersey) and Team Beyond Imagination (lime jersey), it was something rather unusual for them when they saw a sudden surge of "intruders" turning out for their Sunday League fixture at the Bedok North Secondary School. (Pictured above) Rare mainstream media coverage on a Sunday League game. Beside those from the media and their D2DLeague coordinators, making their appearance at the school compound nested inside the Bedok Reservoir Road estate were three former national skippers - Fandi Ahmad, Nazri Nasir and Aide Iskandar. (L-R) Aide Iskandar, Fandi Ahmad and Nazri Nasir watching the game from sidelines. Under the hot scorching heat, the two teams slogged out against each other and with Team Beyond Imagination claiming a 2-1 victory over their opponents on a bumpy playing surface. Following the end of the match, it was then made known to the players that the three former Lions skippers were actually on a scouting m

The Youtube Clip of the highlights of the match... It was indeed a roller-coaster ride for the group of 15 year-old boys that formed the National U15 football team that took part in the Youth Olympic Games. After two emphatic victories in the group stages over Zimbabwe and Montenegro, the expectation was at an all-time high on the "Little Cubs" to aim a shot at the elusive gold medal of the football competition. No one can blame the kind of expectation and hope, after all these boys did just enough to captivate the nation that is starved of footballing success in the recent years (yes, we were that close to knock the doors to Doha and only after a successful appeal that the Cubs are granted the ticket to Asian Games in November) . So how could we expect that every hope was crashed to the earth when the boys lost to the unheralded Haitian in the semi-final . As always, fingers went pointing around with players, coaches, media and fans putting the blame on each other . But at t

BEFORE So far the response have been positive on the Little Cubs' epic performance over Montenegro. It was such a long time I last heard of something said in unison about the performance of any of the national teams. Kudos again for the Little Cubs and credit to the coaching staff headed by Kadir Yahaya for the wonderful execution of the tactics on Thursday night. Of course, amid all the euphoria over these boys, it also important to like what coach Kadir said the essential "to keep the feet on the ground." (Pictured above)Headlines like this above epitomized the "feel good" feeling towards the "Little Cubs" Yet, so much hype on the YOG football team, hope the little cubs can cope with the expectation and media should balance their writeup on the little cubs without over hype the things. Hope the little cubs can play their normal game amid all hype around them, as unlike the last game they are now the favorite against Haiti. AFTER Our Little Cubs (pic

(P.S: I was recently put to a task by Tiger Beer , the sponsor of the Singapore National Team , to see if I deserved a chance to win the grand prize of the "Tiger Beer Regional Online Influencer Challenge" ... read on for more details...) For one, I'm always try to make myself heard... And that's the reason why I started this blog to share whatever my opinions and thoughts on the local game (even if sometimes it did gave me some frightening moments).. Thanks to blogging, I got the chance to visit the Shah Alam Stadium , where one of the greatest moments of Singapore football history was written when the Lions clinched the Malaysia Cup in 1994 before breaking away to form the S.League in 1996. Thanks to blogging, I got a chance to pass a BOCAP to my boyhood idol - former Singapore captain Fandi Ahmad (pictured above) and met one of the greatest strikers that graced the football field - Robbie Fowler, when he was here with the North Queensland Fury (pictured below). A

I think the title of this post should be suffice to describe the mood at the Jalan Besar Stadium just now when a near-capacity crowd of 5,850 (based on what the stadium announcer said over the PA system). (Pictured above) A shot of the crowds at the Gallery of the stadium before the kick-off Anyone who were at the ground just now, would tell you it was either their first time witnessed this kind of fiery atmosphere (some would say still existed in school games' finals) OR they would tell you it was such a long time they LAST had this kind of atmosphere in any Singapore game featuring any of the national teams, be it the senior or their juniors - the national U15 who triumphed over their much bigger-built opponents from the Balkan state of Montenegro in the YOG's Group D fixture and saw them clinched the top of their group . Twitvid of the celebrations after the victory over the Balkans (sorry for the quality as compression was necessary to load the video fast in the first pla

"Sorry Sir, the tickets are SOLD OUT." said the sales personnel over the counter as I was trying to buy the ticket for the Youth Olympic Games' football match on the 19th August. It came at a time amid reports of poor ticketing sales that forced the games' organizers to close the gallery section of the Jalan Besar Stadium (pictured below), where all the football matches of the inaugural event were hosted. Prt-Scr of the news that the Gallery Section was shut down due to poor responce The decision to “shut down” the gallery section proved to be an unpopular decision that it meant fans would have to fork out a higher price price to be seated at the covered “grandstand”of the 6,500-capacity stadium. However, a sudden twist of event saw the surge of interest on the football tickets that it was announced that the tickets to matches involved the Singapore team in the preliminary round were “not longer available”. Prt-Scr of the news that MOE bought 80k of YOG tickets I la

I think it's not fair for me to pass any judgment when I could only managed to see the game for the last 20-odd minutes, after a frantic search around for the elusive livestreaming (pictured above). This defeat should not be seen as a calamity, although that's always seem to be the case that fans asking the heads of the coach and players who don't perform when things don't go their way. 1-0 to the Thais from Sarayoot Chaikamdee in the first half, which I couldn't see in the first instance. While I thought the last 20-odd minutes, we looked tight at the back amid some pacey raid from the Thais (as always), good display by Hassan Sunny who made some good saves towards the end of the game. MEDIA RELEASE FROM FAS ON THE MATCH Lions fall to solitary Thai strike SINGAPORE, 11 August 2010: A first half strike Thailand striker, Sarayoot Chaikamdee was enough to see off a determined Singapore team 1-0 in an international friendly match played at the Yamaha Stadium in Bangkok

Whilst the S.League heads for its recess period, local football supporters will still get the opportunity to catch some live competitive football actions during the inaugural Youth Olympics Games football competition. The national U-15 team, coached by former national defender Kadir Yahaya, will kick off their quest for glory when they take on Zimbabwe on 13th August (Friday) at the Jalan Besar Stadium before facing Montenegro on the 19th on the same venue. (Picture above) The schedule of the preliminaries matches of the YOG football competition (click here for a larger view ) - courtesy of the YOG official site . Tickets are now on sale at authorized ticketing outlets (click here for the list of these outlets ) OR you may log on to the following website to purchase the tickets online at " http://www.singapore2010.sg/public/sg2010/en/en_tickets.html " To enhance your match day experience while watching the boys in action, what could not be the better way but to wave and swin

Coach Kvacek with the Malaysia Cup which he won with Kedah in 1990 (from net) I am not sure how many of you know who he was, but the fact is Milous Kvacek was once, erstwhile national coach of Singapore back in 1992. Despite his short and tumultuous tenure as the Lions coach, the Czech coach left behind a legacy by introduced the formation of “3-2-3-2”, which was a weird tactic unheard of among the local football fans in those day who were more accustomed to “4-3-3” or “4-4-2”. Not only that, the Czech coach was also credited to unearth players such as Zakaria Awang, Steven Tan, Toh Choon Ming to the national team during his two-month stint. It was a time when Singapore football was facing one of its darkest periods after a disappointing campaign in the 1991 Malaysia Cup season, when the Lions failed to follow up from its successful run a year before in 1990. So when the news of the appointment of the Czech tactician came about in early 1992, it simply got the local frater

While the rest of the league adjourned for the YOG break, the national team players are not, as they are gearing up for the two main tournaments scheduled at the end of the year - The Asian Games in November and the AFF Suzuki Cup. Just before they embark for their trip to Bangkok for the upcoming friendly against Thailand on the 11th of August, coach Raddy and the Lions undergo another session at their Geylang Field training base. PICTURES FROM THE TRAINING SESSION (Pictured above) Tampines Rovers' custodian Hassan Sunny preparing himself before the start of the day. (Picture above) Coach Raddy having some deep thoughts, as the team were warming up. Persija's Fahrudin Mustafic (pictured above in foreground) returns from Indonesia to be part of the set-up, so is his team-mate Baihakki Khaizan following the concluding of the Indonesian League. (Pictured above, from L-R) Having played the night before this session, the SAFFC's trio of Shahril Jantan, John Wilkinson and Daniel

Some of you have already known that Sriwijaya had won the Copa Indonesia last night by beating ISL champions Arema Malang . Interesting fact is that three Singaporeans were featured in that match with Precious Emuejaraye for the victorious Palembang club, while Noh Alam Shah and Ridhuan Mahamud for the East Javanese side. As rumors have been flying around and it's confirmed (according to sources) that both Ah Long (Noh Alam Shah - pictured above) and Ridhuan had played their last game for the "Crazy Lions" after talks apparently broke down over their messy contractual issues. All these came at a time when speculations are rife that there might be another raiding exercise carried by the Indonesian clubs on notable Singapore players by dangling fat cheques and the prospect of playing in front of the big, passionate crowds (as depicted below). Persija's supporters at Solo (courtesy of Jakarta Casual TV ) Ironically, when Sriwijaya were in town months ago for the ACL pl