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Showing posts from November, 2011

"Matchpix" - November 2011

(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

Kari's double with Albirex's triple crowns

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

The bitterest victory ....

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

Hang on to your seat....

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 double-

[Feature] Isa Halim strives for optimum fitness with H-TWO-O!‏

(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

Back to HOME...

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

[Not-So-Instant Reaction] after we won and packed up as well...

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

"Tonight there seems to be more China supporters than the locals...."

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

[Instant Reaction] Left to fight for pride.... [edited]

Screen-grab from the livestreaming When asked after the loss to the Jordanians earlier in their first meeting of the qualifiers if we still stand a chance of making to the next round, assistant coach V Sundramoorthy said there's still "mathematical" chance of doing so if we could take "maximum points out of the remaining matches". So when referee Ben Williams of Australia blew to signal the end of the match at Amman where the hosts beating the visiting Lions 2-0, it's clear that we are left to fight for our pride for the remaining matches against China and Iraq. We were practically camped inside our own half since the start and the slip up on the left flank allow the Jordanians to score with an ease passed Lionel Lewis to see Jordan leading 1-0 at half time. Just like their juniors in Jakarta match against the Indonesians in the SEA Games , a much adventurous display saw the Lions making forays into the Jordanians' half in the second period and

So they benefited from a "better head start" ?? [edited]

Like mentioned, I did not get to see the match that Cubs lost to the Indonesians due to work. However, here's the Youtube clip of the match via a Vietnamese broadcaster. General thoughts of the game gathered online lauded the performance of the Singapore side for keeping the scoreline respectable especially with their performance in the second half , after conceding two goals and a player sent off (Nigel Vanu)in the first half. While some may blasted the Filipino referee for his handling of the match (as told), a friend feedback via SMS thought otherwise as he opined... "The ref from philippines was first rate and had to penalise indonesians repeatedly for diving etc nigel (Vanu) had to go ref spot on if you watch a game in a one eyed way you do not get a true picture i am certain the indo fans felt the ref was hard on them as he kept denying them free kicks as he could read their tricks and was eagle eyed picking up infringements" Now we are left with a mountain to

First LEGO block laid???

(This entry is formulated from the media release issued by the Football Association of Singapore ) Much had been said about the revitalizing of the local football scene with talks of plans, ideas, etc. that kept coming from the pipeline which finally saw the first LEGO block laid in the foundation for such rebuilding. Expansion of the capacity will take place at this part of JBS In a media release released by the Football Association of Singapore this evening, it was announced the much touted expansion of the Jalan Besar Stadium will go ahead with 2,000 additional seats will be built parallel to King George's Avenue, along with two corporate VIP boxes built at the Grandstand section of the stadium. Sharing his thoughts following the announcement, Mr Zainudin Nordin., the FAS president said:"I believe that the expansion of the seating capacity at Jalan Besar Stadium by 30% will help us reach out to more football fans and enable them to watch both the thrilling 2012 M.

[Instant Reaction] Much spirited performance from the Cubs...

Two contrasting emotions depicted in the picture snapped off the television after the game with a grim-looking Cambodian's Korean coach Lee Tae-Hoon (top half of the picture) pondering what could have gone wrong after two straight defeats in Jakarta. While his counterpart Sloban Pavkovic (below half) breathe a sight of relieve having see the Cubs came back from a goal deficit to beat the Khmers 2-1 in the near-empty Senayan with headers from Khairul Nizam and Nigel Vanu. Following the thumping loss against the Indonesia, the Khmers started off with a fluke goal in the first half that caught all by surprise, before having to see the game slipped away with the Cubs gaining more of the dominance in the second. Already under fire from the press back in Cambodia over his recent handling of the team's affairs, Lee's future with the Khmers certainly look shaky that even before the start of the tournament my fellow blogger, Phnom Pehn based Andy Brouwer of Kingdom of Footba

[Instant Reaction] I don't know man..... Singapore 0-0 Malaysia [edited]

Screen-grab off TV after the game was over... The just concluded match saw the Cubs walked away with a 0-0 draw against the defending SEA Games champions Malaysia at the Senanyan in Jakarta in this "Group of Death" opener. Due to work, I could only watched the second half of the match and therefore I am not in the best position to give an all-round review of the match. Based on the tweets I gathered while the first half was played it seemed that we had a good start until the Harimau Muda settled into the later stages of the first period to dominate the play with slight better percentage in holding the ball. Yet, it was the Cubs that had the chance of the match when a tweet suggested the following: - Fazli Ayob with the best chance of the day when he twisted and turned 3 Msia players before Khairul Fahmi saves his shot. While another tweet looked into a more tactical side of the match when he added - They should have a three man midfield with Hariss (Harun) anchor n

[SEA Games] Finalized Finally .... [edited]

Initially, when I gathered the news of the SEA Games squad being announced via some sources online I thought the nagging NS issue that had been bothering some of the boys had already settled at the nick of time. It was only later when I opened my mailbox and saw the official release from the Football Association of Singapore regarding the squad list and realized the word "Provisional" in between the keywords. (Picture above right) Emmeric Ong, in white top, already enlisted and not able to join the squad in Jakarta So nothing is confirmed just yet and a number of the boys below are still keeping their fingers crossed as they are just a week away from facing Malaysia in Jakarta. Imaging just the night before leaving for Indonesia and the enlistment letter arrives in the letterbox ... Good Grief -___- UPDATE... Days later on 2nd November, FAS released an update of the new squad list with the inclusion of the Yasir Hanapi from Home United to make it a 20-man squad