BoLASEPaKO.COM - A Blog on Singapore Football

I would like to apologize for not being able to load up the July compilation and decided to merge together with those taken in August, regret any inconvenience caused. 2013 Singapore Cup - Balestier Khalsa 2-0 Hougang Utd (26/7/13) Balestier Khalsa are on route to a possible Cup double glories Balestier Khalsa overcame a two-goal deficit to level the game on aggregate and forced the game to extra time before triggering the penalty decider to knock Hougang Utd out of the Cup to clinch the first berth of the "Final Four". The outcome of this series also gave birth to a nickname for any match featuring both - the "Pinball Derby". Thank goodness that the  Tigers were in the  white outfits to allow shots at ISO3200. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES Singapore Cup - Home United 3-2 Geylang Int'l 29/7/2013 Guess whose head was hidden The 2011 Cup holders filled up the last slot of the "Final Four" with a 5...

Coach Sundram is N9-bound Just a short entry on the thoughts after the news broke out yesterday morning that Lions XII coach V Sundramoorthy is set to join Malaysian club Negri Sembilan in November . While I am not going to discuss the impact on the ongoing Lions XII's Malaysia Cup campaign, as I think I don't qualify for that. Instead, I would like to share my thoughts on the effect for the upcoming SEA Games in Burma in coming December. It was widely acknowledged that “The Dazzler” was supposed to spearhead the national U23 team in their quest for that elusive regional glory, thus with the confirmation of the 47-year-old's new venture across the Causeway in weeks to come, it had definitely caused quite a disruption for the SEA Games preparation. "As I have said on several occasions, I am deeply appreciative of the support and assistance rendered to me by my management and colleagues at FAS." said coach Sundram in a press release issued by the Football ...

Fazrul (L) recalled Fazrul Nawaz in, Shariff Samat out, Irwan Shah in, Hafiz Abu Sujad out, Shakir Hamzah in, Gabriel Quak out. These are some of notable names called up and excluded in Singapore national football team coach Bernd Stange's latest selection that was announced yesterday via the media release from the Football Association of Singapore. Other than that, the list of 22 players relatively stayed intact for the upcoming training tour to China and Hong Kong next month. Despite the brickbats after his showing against the Omanis, Balestier Khalsa's Qiu Li is still in loop with young Adam Swandi of Metz FC joining the group. Nonetheless, looking at the list of 22, there is one question that remains a mystery to me, at least. Qiu Li (L) keeps his spot in Stange's plans If anyone would still recall the match against the Omanis , it's not hard to tell the Lions were struggling to venture across the center line with their "passing and dominating...

The League Cup Trophy (This entry is formulated based on the media release issued by Football Association of Singapore) The League authority had announced the rescheduled fixtures of the Starhub League Cup's remaining matches (i.e.: semi-finals, plate and cup finals) in a statement issued days ago. Originally scheduled to play in June, but the unforeseen hazy weather then forced the semi-finals and subsequent matches to be postponed to September. The revised fixtures are as follows: (SF1) ALBIREX NIIGATA (S) FC vs BALESTIER KHALSA FC JURONG EAST STADIUM 9 SEPTEMBER, Kick-off 7.30PM Ticket price: $6 for Adult and $2 for Concession (SF2) WOODLANDS WELLINGTON FC vs BRUNEI DPMM FC WOODLANDS STADIUM 10 SEPTEMBER, Kick-off 7.30PM Ticket price: $5 for Adult and $1 for Concession Tickets for the semi-finals will be sold at the respective stadiums from 6pm onwards on match days. At the meantime, the "Plate Final" match between Courts Young Lions and Ha...

Bernd Stange's competitive start as the Singapore national coach hit a snag with a 2-0 loss to Oman in the Asian Cup Qualifiers at the Jalan Besar Stadium. Two goals in the first half well deemed enough for the Middle-easterners to bag all three bags to ease the burden of their coach Paul Le Guen following their failure to qualify for the World Cup earlier. Qasim Said (2nd from right) scored the first goal Fifteen minutes into play saw Qasim Said making inroads from the right into the Lions fortress before unleashing a low drive past Izwan Mahbud to give the visitors the lead. The Omanis doubled their tally before the end of the first half with a well-taken shot from outside through Eid Al-Farsi to put the game beyond doubt for the jaded hosts. Safuwan Baharudin (21) head to head with Abdul Aziz (9) Lions were struggling to contain the Omanis' swift plays The Lions tried to play the "passing-and-dominating" type of game the German tactician has be...

Balestier Khalsa claimed all three points in the newly-christened “Pinball Derby” with a 3-1 rout over Hougang United at the Toa Payoh Stadium. Following the result, the visiting Cheetahs saw themselves engulfed further deep at near bottom of the standings on eleventh position, while the hosting Tigers boasted their positioning that propelled them to fourth after 19 matches played. Unlike the intensity shown in the previous Cup match played on the same ground between the two sides weeks ago, it was a tepid affair with limited sparks in this league fixture that saw misguided exchanges and wasted opportunities dominated much of the proceedings. Therefore, whoever took their chances well would see them gain the much-needed advantage over the other party, which in this case explained why Balestier adhered to that principle and walked away with the victory. Latched on a long punt from 'keeper Zaiful Nizam, national striker Qiu Li took his chance well to lob in a volley from...

Coach Stange (right) preaches "passing" game The Singapore national football team begun their preparation for the crucial AFC Asian Cup qualifiers against Oman this evening at the Jalan Besar Stadium. From today onwards, the Lions will come together for the preparation training before the centralized training begins on the 10th of August. Other than those being involved in their club duties, most of the 23 players reported to the session led by coach Bernd Stange with the late omission of Tampines Rovers defender Shaiful Esah who is replaced by Warriors FC's Zulfadli Zainal Abidin due to an injury sustained on his right knee cartilage (according to the FAS media release). Players involved in last night's "Uniform Derby" did part of their recovery Players are responding well in the training Much of the training emphasized on the passing game the ex-Iraq national coach trying to preach to his team and the German coach is pleased that t...