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) 2011 Sultan of Selangor Cup - (Match Day and Balik Kampong) Malay rock legend Amy Search (pictured above) wowed the 65,000 at the Shah Alam Stadium in this annual event initiated by the Sultan of Selangor with motive in fostering relationship between Singapore and Selangor whom both shared an unique rivalry in the Malayan football history. The Selangor veterans retained their title for second time in running, while the Singapore selection (made up of the Lions) beat Selangor Selection 1-0 to keep the honour for the third successive time. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES. S.League Match - Balestier Khalsa 1-0 Courts Young Lions(6/10/11) The match was delayed for good 45 minutes or so before referee decided to go ahead on a water-logged pi...

(This entry is formulated based on materials obtained via Singa Cup Official Website ) INTRODUCTION Singa Cup is an international youth football tournament co-organized by Dynamique Konzepts Pte Ltd, an event management company with its partners Joji , a local based design and innovation consultancy. The inaugural edition will kick off on 07th November 2011 in Singapore with the organizers confirmed this tournament is going to be an annual event to allow exciting raw talents from Asia and abroad a chance to pit against each other in a competitive environment. CONCEIVING OF THE TOURNAMENT "This is the first time we are deviating from our mainstream scope and breaking new grounds into sports with this international youth tournament – SingaCup." said Mr Ng Tiong Hian, Business Development Manager of Dynamique Konzepts, who drawn their clientele base mainly from the banking and aviation industries. Taking a cue from renowned youth tournaments such as Goitha Cup, Danna...

(Media Information from the Football Association of Singapore ) Former Lion Rafi Ali (with cap) is instrumental behind the success of the junior Stags SINGAPORE, 27 October 2011: Tampines Rover Prime League side overcame a resolute Singapore Recreation Club 8-7 on penalties to win their third Singapore Pools FA Cup. In front of 1414 fans at the Jalan Besar stadium, the young Stags took the lead in the first half through captain Fazli Zailani but Blessing Ughojo equalised for SRC late into the second half to send the match into extra time. Both teams were unable to break the deadlock in extra time and the match went into a penalty shootout where Young Stags goalkeeper, Fariq Ghani denied his opposite number, SRC goalkeeper, Shamsudin Hashim, to send the Young Stags supporters into raptures. Tampines Rovers team manager, Zulkarnaen Zainal gave full credit to his opponents. “SRC played really well and pushed us all the way. Full credit to them as they showed that they deserve...

Firdaus Idros being called up to Lions In a media release announced just hours ago by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), national coach Raddy Avaramovic added two more uncapped players into the 21-men squad that are due to face Jordan (away) and China (home) next month in their upcoming World Cup qualifiers. They are Home United's striker Firdaus Idros (who was once asked by a S.League coach why wasn't he being selected) and Tanjong Pagar Utd's Patrick Paran. At the meantime, the list also saw some notable absentees such as Safuwan Baharudin, Hariss Harun, Shahdan Sulaiman and Izwan Mahbud who are being committed to the upcoming SEA Games in Indonesia. However, the latest selection by coach Raddy did raise a few queries as why Qiu Li, who reported to be out of the season due to recurring injury, is still in the list and a perceived weaken goalkeeping department that is not strengthen with the departure of Izwan to the Cubs. Probably, it could be the cas...

Good day to all, Just having a test blog from this neat application here using "BlogPress" ... Here is a shot of me with the legendary Zico ...

Long overshadowed by its more glamorous counterparts (i.e.: the S.League and the Singapore Cup), the FA Cup is the third major tournament organized by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) since 1995. From 1999 onwards, the tournament had become a chance for a silverware for the NFL clubs after a decision was made that S.League clubs should not longer participate in this competition with Tanjong Pagar United being the last professional club to clinch the honour in 1998 after beating Sembawang Rangers at the demolished National Stadium. However, the admission of Prime League squads of the S.League clubs in 2006 had end the monopoly of these NFL sides on this trophy with each year finalists since then having a side being the secondary squad of a professional setup with them walked away as winners on three occasions. Picture obtained from the  official Facebook page Unfortunately, the last two editions of the Cup Final saw the part-timers triumphed over their much illus...

Those three emicons at the end of the tweet message (prt-screen above) was my initiate reaction when the news confirmed that the National Under 23 squad or the Cubs are drawn into the "Group of DEATH" of the biennial games to be held in Indonesian capital Jakarta. After all, we are up against the defending champions Malaysia and regional powerhouses Thailand (whom we defeated just weeks ago in a friendly), host nation Indonesia and Cambodia . The fact that a chunk of squad deemed unavailable due to National Service (NS) had saddled onto the mammoth task ahead, both players and officials seems undaunted by the mountain ahead of them in spite not having the ideal preparation in the run up to the most prestigious medal of the regional meet-up. “Yes, we have gotten the information that we are in Group A but I would like to focus on my team first and get them ready for the tournament where we will be up against quality sides in the group.” said coach Slobodan Pavkovic of the...

How frustrated can it be again? Despite all the hindrances facing the National Under-23 squad in their preparation for the upcoming SEA Games, the local game authority boldly set a "final" target for the Cubs. Nothing wrong with being ambitious, as it departs from the usual modest target to settle for a "semi-final" in the biennial games even if we had our best squad in the past capable of the elusive gold. Yet, the biggest bugbear facing the team to be led by FAS Technical Director Slobodan Pavkovic is the high number of players being enlisted for the mandatory National Service (NS). Hariss Harun (14) in action for Lions  Already several boys found themselves crippled by the ruling, notably Hariss Harun (pictured above middle) and Safuwan Baharudin (pictured above right) - two of the star performers in the ongoing fading World Cup qualifiers. As a result of it, Hariss was not able to feature in several key matches. All these after fruitless negotiating...

Isa Halim after the final whistle was blown Things just don't look that good when we conceded a goal within the first 15-minute slot that saw Abdallah Deeb scored to give the Jordanian the lead, when the Lions barely find the momentum upfront with some misguided balls that strayed away needlessly. Safuwan's (extremely right in red) header almost levelled the scores Few chances that came across following that setback with defender Safuwan Baharudin's "out-of-nowhere" header from close range nearly leveled the scores in the 35th minute or so, but the scores stayed that way at the end of the first 45 minutes. Like their Iraqis counterparts, the Jordanians show no awkwardness on plastic surface, despite the earlier grouse by their coach Adnan Hamad over the surface like Zico did earlier . Ahmad Ibrahim (extremely right in white) scored the third for Jordanians in 63rd minute It is clear that the Middle-Easterners being the more dynamic side and undeniab...

"MINI MANILA" I'm not sure how that sentiment started in the first place, but judging by the posting plastered online and heard from the grapevine, it seems that JBS would turn out become a "mini Manila" for the friendly fixture between Singapore and The Philippines. True enough that majority turned out for the game were the expat Filipinos. Just like most of the matches played earlier that involving any foreign team in recent months, the Pinoys were all in unison rhythm and voice (most of the time) that rocked the normally subtle JBS. THE MATCH Honestly speaking from my perspective that both sides lacked the firepower upfront during the first half of the match. Jason De Jong (21) in tussle with Hariss Harun (partially hidden) While the Filipinos looked nippy at times on the flanks, but the combination of Daniel Bennett and Safuwan Baharudin did well to ward off the dangers, although the visitors did look one-dimensional in much of their offense (pl...

DAY ONE - Arrival from Singapore Courts Young Lions' Ruzaini Zainal (pictured above) could consider taking up a sideline as a beverage stall operator eh? This was taken while at a half-way stop in Negri Sembilan before heading up to Shah Alam. The mystical iconic Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Mosque or "Blue Mosque" (pictured above) as what it was seen as when the contingent arrived at the designated accommodation in the state capital of Selangor. DAY TWO - Match Day Datuk Santokh Singh (pictured above left), the legendary defender who sent shivers down the spines of many strikers back in the 1970s, greets the Sultan of Selangor, HRH Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah before the Veterans match. "Ok guys, listen up this is the final instruction...." DAY THREE - Balik Singapura Having our meal break at this half-way stop at Ayer Keroh, Melaka and found an A&W restaurant within the premises. Wow!! really "Old School" feeling when I saw that ...

That's Amy for you!!!  I just could not recall when was the last time my hair actually STAND during a match, but when Malay rock legend Amy of Search fame wowed his audience of his classic - ISABELLA during the half time of the veterans match - it did! Such an impact was that song that whole stadium actually sang it when it was performed by the legendary singer during the interval. It's not just having such performance by those big name and whose who in the Malay entertainment scene, but the footballing atmosphere that is not often experienced back at home. The Klang Valley supporters were out in full force!! That's probably one of the reason why some of us are looking forward to the annual Sultan of Selangor Cup if it's being staged in Shah Alam. You see, the only word to describe the whole atmosphere at Stadium Shah Alam was - ELECTRIFYING! Just like once a senior figure in local football told me,"In REAL football, players cannot even hear among t...

(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 Match - Hougang Utd 2-1 Etoile FC (4/9/11) My setting at Hougang Stadium - 1/250, f5.6 (default), ISO3200 set another low in my S.League foto shoot -_- Hougang Utd upstaged defending champions Etoile FC 2-1 at the Hougang Stadium. In this rescheduled fixture, the Cheetahs took the lead through Vitor Borges in the first half before Selim Kaabi leveled in the half. However, a well taken strike by Azhar Sairudin ended all hopes for the French as the hosts secured all three points. The gallant display by the Cheetahs at home had prompted blogger Liga Singapura to laud their recent form in this entry of his. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES. World Cup Qualifiers - Singapore vs Iraq (5-6/9/11) The fact must be the Iraqi p...