BoLASEPaKO•COM - A Blog on Singapore Football

Snap from Jurong East earlier It is down to the final fixtures of the season before we will know if Warriors, since 2009 when they were still known as SAFFC, or Brunei DPMM, joining the ranks alongside with another foreign side - Etoile FC, are to be crowned the new Great Eastern Yeo's S.League champions this coming Friday. The upcoming coronation will effectively signal the end of reigning champions Tampines Rovers' stranglehold of the title, which they held for the last three years. Ironically, the Stags will be the stumbling block for the oil-rich sultanate's only professional football club this Friday before the fate is to be decided if the latter can check-in 15-kilogram trophy over the airport counter. Meanwhile, victory by both Tampines and Warriors, who will face Albirex Niigata (Singapore), on Friday will ensure the league trophy remains within the Republic boundary. DPMM coach Steve Kean (file picture) The scenario is made possible after Albirex fa...

Coach Stange (right) has a difficult time (file) So, we are facing the hard truth that after having a professional football league for close to almost twenty years, we are nowhere near to calling ourselves a PROFESSIONAL league that contributes $200 million to the local economy . In national coach Bernd Stange's eyes, some of the local players are merely "semi-professionals" and "even close to amateur" with more training needs to be done to close the gap. This was remarked by Coach Stange in an article that appeared in an online portal after the recent friendly against Juventus in which he led the Singapore Selection against the Italian giants. Al-Qaasimy in action against Juventus (file) Said the German coach in that Yahoo Sports article :  “If you’re 19, 20 or 21 years old and you’re semi-professional for a long time, like Al-Qaasimy [Rahman], who [just] came back from NS now, my expectation [ for players] should be limited,” “Now they are fre...