BoLASEPaKO.COM - A Blog on Singapore Football

(P.S: If you access this site via "come.to/matchpix" , please click the "Facebook" icon after you click "HERE" when you want to view the album as that will redirect you to the album, thank you) 2012 Pre Season starts... Geylang United(26/12/11) 2012 Pre-season Training starts with Geylang on Boxing Day 2012. With the field still under maintenance, the Eagles begun their preparation by focus on their conditioning on the tracks under the eyeful eyes of newly-recruited trainer Peter Jakobsen (pictured above left). Due to his resemble to Dutch legendary striker Denis Bergkamp, it's not wonder that Jakobsen was often mistaken for making a comeback with the Eagles when his picture first surface. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE REST OF THE PICTURE 2012 Pre Season starts... Home United(27/12/11) Home United also begun their pre-season training at the end of December at Ang Mo Kio Secondary School. The school is one of the adopted schools by the Protecto...

Honestly speaking this hastily-arranged fixture came as a surprise to me when I was told the "Uniform Duo" (SAFFC and Home United)be playing against each other at Jalan Besar on the New Year's eve. John Wilkinson (left) skippered Protectors against his old club After all, not all the teams have started their pre-season training and let alone if DPMM's status is officially confirmed despite the earlier report on Asean Football Federation website (AFF). "I just want to know my new players' strength so I called (SAFFC coach) Richard Bok for this friendly match." said Home United coach Paul Lee after the match that saw his side lost 2-0 to its arch rivals. "However, it's still to early to gauge my team's performance when players like (captain) Shi Jiayi and (Fred) Mendy are still not back in Singapore. "I think for now result of this game is not important, as I need to check the condition of my players." added the Korean co...

(This entry is sponsored by Samsung Mobile ) It's a common sight everywhere in Brazil to see the fun-loving natives get together spontaneously for a game of kick-about on any space they can find. Be it that it could be an obscure back alley of any street, the famed Copacabana beaches or on those lush manicured pitches dotted around this football crazy nation, so long inches of space are made available you bound to see the Brazilians coming together to enjoy a game of street soccer. Join host Sal Masekala of “Project Teamwork” in the following clips as he visits Florianópolis in south of Brazil, home of leading futsal (five-a-side soccer) club - ADC Florianopolis to meet up with team captain Denison Cabral and find out from him how the gospels of teamwork is spread to those players through the game of street soccer. In these videos, Cabral and his colleagues at ADC Florianopolis, whom some Singaporeans may have seen them in action at Ngee Ann City in April , also show us h...

I'm not sure if anyone of you out there notice this scenario since the early days of the S.League that there are these two clubs been "close trading partners". It's not uncommon to see players of this particular club swapping jerseys for another particular side after a season or two that in recent years seems to have intensified. As what I recalled that while there were some controversies surrounded the transfer of then Woodlands Wellington star striker Dalis Supait (pictured left in Balestier Central outfit) to Balestier Central (now known as Balestier Khalsa) in 1997 season, but that should also marked the beginning of such "close trading ties" between the two with English striker Paul Robinson heading the same route in 1999. Following that some notable transfers between the two included the likes of Korean star winger Park Tae Won and Japanese midfielder Akihiro Nakamura. When both these East Asian aces left the Toa Payoh outfit for a greener pastu...

Picture Credit: 123RF.com It has come to this part of the year when I would always pen my annual review to summarize my thoughts on what happened in the past twelve months in Singapore Football. Having said that, I must admit that it's been quite a difficult year for the local football that has been struggling with myriad of procrastinating problems that remain lingering. So much that I think it will be a daft idea to go on repeating those issues (i.e.: lack of crowds, lack of interest, etc.) then propose some "naive" solutions to these woes. Instead, I decided to post up the links to the past "Annual Reviews" that were archived in this blog since the transition in 2005. Annual Review 2005 - "FROM SITE TO BLOG" Annual Review 2006 - "10 years old" Annual Review 2007 - "DOUBLE ONE" Annual Review 2007 - "The odd Dozen" Annul Review - "13 deemed UNlucky" Annual Review - "SCREWED...

The feet-dragging on various issues pertaining the S.League is not doing any good if the league authority is keen to have the struggling competition back on its feet. With mysteries of the identities of Winston Lee's replacement for the league's CEO, the 13th and 14th team still looming large, plus the near "black-out" on S.League coverage on the mainstream media in recent weeks have further inflicted more damages it can ill-afforded to. Despite assurance from the top that this country's domestic league will not play second fiddle once January comes, but given things that happened of late with earlier mentioned, would be too late if those issues are to be left to the eleventh hour again (nothing usual in local football scene)? The failure to allow the dust settled when February comes (when the S.League is scheduled to kick-off), would only see us walking through another "sand storm", unless the person who is going to drive us through knows the way ...

(This feature is formulated from the media release issued by the Football Association of Singapore from which pictures and quotes were extracted unless credited) Adam (no 10) in action against Juventus in Canon LCC His glittering performance in the 23rd Canon Lion City Cup is a testament to why he is rated as one of the country's brightest footballing prospects. His commanding presence as the skipper during that tournament eventually led the National Football Academy (NFA) U15 to a respectable third position in that youth tournament featuring the boys from renowned club sides such as CR Flamengo and Juventus. So little surprise came last Sunday when Adam Swandi emerged as the winner from the pool of five nominees in the annual "Dollah Kassim Award", an initiative by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), in partnership with The New Paper, Turkish Airlines and Singapore Pools. This award is named after the late Singapore football legend who passed away l...

Just a random thought here as this only came to my mind while I was working just now. As you guys may have noticed of late there's not update on this blog. One reason is that now it's "off-season" and I thought it's a time to recharge, while also reflect and re-evaluate the direction this blog is heading to. That's the purpose of "BlastFromThePast" to engage conversation with readers On the blog Facebook page , I have been posting "BlastFromThePast" entries (as pictured above) to share with you all some of those past entries since 2005 (which I really hope you would appreciate those past efforts). In a way, I do hope you, the readers, can decide for yourself if it has been a worthwhile experience to drop in a peek at this blog and also to see if there's any change in the local footballing landscape since you first watch Singapore football. If I'm too bother about getting a higher hit-rate than provide value to the r...

Priority for Lionel is his family and his club, Home United While many consider retiring from international football at the age of 29 is too young, especially for the case of goalkeeper. After all, great custodians like Dino Zoff and Peter Shilton did maintain their presence between the posts for their countries past their forties. But for the case of Lionel Lewis who decided to call his Lions career a day the tell-signs were already there in recent weeks. Right after the loss to the Iraqis back in September , the Home United 'keeper revealed his intention to the waiting press at the mixed zone that night. This came after Lionel just recovered from an adductor injury that sidelined him against the Malaysians in that crucial "Causeway Derby" in July. On top of that coupled with other injuries that sustained since the start of his career, it's a matter of time for him to consider his options and so when the news broke out this morning, it hardly surpr...

(P.S: If you access this site via "come.to/matchpix" , please click the "Facebook" icon after you click "HERE" when you want to view the album as that will redirect you to the album, thank you) S.League - Gombak Utd 0-3 Etoile FC (5/11/11) The last match before another adjournment saw Etoile FC beat Gombak Utd 3-0 at the JBS. Two quick early goals set the precedence with some leakage on the flank allowed the goals from Kamel Chaaouane in the 4th minute and Jonathan Toto in the 5th. Toto added on another on the 51st to seal all three points for the Stars who are aiming to finish third on the ladder... PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES World Cup Qualifiers - Singapore vs China (15/11/11) What could more heart-pain than see your team being thrashed convincingly by a better team on home ground when it always have a feel of being "away"? A decent first half performance was punctured by a "slip-in" goal at th...

The year's award night was held on the following evening after the last three games were completed on the previous night at Grand Copthorne with the usual gala setting for this annual get-together for the local football fraternity. The night kicked off with the awarding of the "Young Player of the Year" to Albirex Niigata (S)'s Tatsuro Inui beating the likes of Lions stars Hariss Harun and Safuwan Baharudin. This blog's entry titled "The Defining Moment from the Flank" (pictured above hold by the blogger) was among the nominees for the "Picture of the Year" that eventually went to TNP's Benjamin Seetor's "Tampines Trip Up" (P.S: Benjamin is standing behind the blogger on the left of the picture above). Upstart Safuwan (pictured above) did eventually make up for the earlier disappointment by walked away with the "People Choice" award, a honour that was decided by online voting. Having steered the White Swans t...

To many at the game just now at Bishan Stadium, they jolly well knew that Home United's title fate was no longer in their hands after they lost to their closest rivals Tampines Rovers nights ago that saw they being dislodged from the top of the table. Home United - 2011 League runners-up Still to the recently crowned Singapore Cup winners , they remained focused with their task tonight and went on to beat a depleted Geylang United 5-0 before collecting the league runners-up cheque of $75,000 and medals from the guest of honour, Mr Sarjit Singh who is the honorary treasurer of the FAS at the end of the night. Although, one can't help but feeling sorry for the visitors who were playing their first game after more than a month break due to the rescheduling of the league fixtures and resulted them fielding a number of fringe players after having to release three of their imports - Jeon Byung Euk, Daniel Hammond and Yuta Nakano following the fulfilment of their contractual o...

Mr Teo Hock Seng, Tampines chairman hugged by his players after the 1-0 victory over Home United on an atrocious field.  A decent turnout at the Tampines Stadium saw the epic clash between Tampines Rovers and league leaders Home United on an unplayable surface marred by the heavy downpour before the start. The condition of the field was so bad that it had proven to be a nightmare for the laundry man after both sides had to change to a new set of jerseys before the game resumed for the second half. Did the soiled jersey bring Latiff luck? However, Ahmad Latiff's soiled jersey remained with him and probably that was the reason why (that must have brought him luck) his strike in the 62nd minute from outside the box had triggered a wild celebration after it beat Protectors' custodian Lionel Lewis. This marked a crucial moment for the season title race as the champions would only be made known this coming Sunday when both Stags and Protectors will be featured in a d...

(This entry is formulated with the transcript obtained from S.League title sponsor, H-TWO-O, via the Football Association of Singapore ) Isa and H-TWO-O - a perfect combination Boasting a score of 13.3 in the pre-season beep test, Home United and Singapore national team midfielder Isa Halim is one of the best in the business. After seven seasons in the S.League, Isa has proven year after year that he is one player who thrives on doing well in the beep test and he puts it down to H-TWO-O. “The Beep Test is one of the toughest hurdles we have to go through prior to the start of each season."said the midfielder who started out his career with Woodlands Wellington. "For that, I always ensure that I prepare well for it by constantly hydrating myself with H-TWO-O before, during and after each work out session in order to recharge and replenish my body with ample fluids and carbohydrates to take on the beep test." he added. Isa in action for the national team aga...

HUFC's skipper Shi Jiayi hoisted the Cup It was indeed a hard fought triumph for Home United who with the win over Albirex Niigata (Singapore) had claimed the accolade being the most successful Singapore Cup side with their fifth record win. Cautious play from both sides dominated much of the play with Albirex stroking the ball around the park with possessive tactics that failed to shackle the rock solid defence line of Rosman Sulaiman, Kenji Arai and man-of-the-match, Valery Hiek. Valery Hiek (no 13) - rock solid in the Protectors defence However, their counterparts were equally up to the task to contain usually reliable strikeforce spearheaded with Fred Mendy and Sherif El-Masri who were frustrated countless time by the lack of luck during the match. Did the officials spot this "infringement" to deny Mendy first? Just as the thought of having the match to go into extra time loomed over the sky of Tyrwhitt Road, Mendy finally found his header at the back o...

Read a tweet from my timeline that goes like this before the Indonesia-Malaysia SEA Games match after the Cubs defeated the supposedly perennial powerhouses Thailand 2-0. "This is e first (and probably will be e only) time a 2-0 win over Thailand feels like a defeat..." Can't blame that sense of pessimistic when the Cubs initially failed in achieving the target that mammoth task of four goals against the Thais because the goal difference between them and the Malaysians, whom they defeated the hosts to progress to the semi-finals. Anyway, will not comment on the game itself when I did not see the match in the first place (due to work again). However, gathered from the timeline it was perceived that the Cubs were better up against their opponents with several offside decisions that went against them in the second half that one suggested it would have been 5-0. At the end of the day when your fate is not in your hands, one just have to learn and accept the eventual outcome a...

Picture tells a THOUSAND words.... Decent first half defensive display by the Lions until the sucker punch that came in the 42nd minute to see the well placed grounder by Yu Hai (pictured below foreground) to give the Chinese the headstart before end of the first period. As what they always said in football that conceding a goal at this juncture of any game would have a psychological demoralizing effect on team that conceded that goal. That is the kind of curse that seemed to haunt the Lions soon after the game restart when the Chinese skipper Li Weifeng's header sunk home in the 55th minute. If only this shot by Duric didn't hit the beam in the 2nd Half Despite having a man sent off that gave them numerical advantage, the Lions failed to capitalize and eventually allowed the visitors to tap in two more goals to seal the deal. Despite the downside of the result, Home United's striker Firdaus Idros (pictured above on left) was singled out during the post match ...