BoLASEPaKO.com - A Blog on Singapore Football

Despite going down in the two matches they play against their much illustrious opponents, many people which included the likes of Stoke City's manager Mark Hughes and his Arsenal counterpart Arsene Wenger , lauded the performance of the Singapore Selection in the just concluded Barclays Asia Trophy. Two players in the picture above - Zaiful Nizam (second from left) and Shahdan Sulaiman (middle) are the two of those worth mentioning for the efforts shown by the hosting side during the tournament that drawn a record crowds of 81,974 to this event since its inception back in 2003. Just last November on the same ground saw a horrific injury sustained by Shahdan during the Suzuki Cup that saw him out of action until his return, merely weeks ago with Lions XII in the ongoing MSL campaign. Also during that period, Zaiful with his wife were spotted among the crowds watching the Lions in action then against the eventual winners, Thailand. Zaiful - "A Dream came True at

The Barclays Asia Trophy will be a battle between Arsenal and Everton on this coming Saturday after cleared their hurdles along the way. The Gunners booked their ticket after shutout the Singapore Selection four goals to none. The Toffees, on the other hand, defeated Stoke City on penalties to confirm theirs after a goal-less outing. Lakaku's (right) effort was ruled offside  Peter Crouch (25) utilised his advantage to the fullest Belgian striker Romelu Lakaku would have put the Goodison Park tenants on the pole position before the interval if not for his attempt to be ruled offside. With several close exchanges that failed to yield any dividend forced the opener to head into penalties and resulted Everton proceed to the final on a scoreline of five to four with 'keeper Tim Howard made a crucial save during shoot-out. Arsenal did not field their strongest lineup against the Singapore Selection with less than half of those started by manager Arsene Wenger are the

BAT2015 pre-match presser Everything is ready to get set for the seventh edition of the Barclays Asia Trophy - the gala event that will see three Barclays Premier League teams - Arsenal, Everton and Stoke City to feature alongside a Singapore Selection that comprises of mainly the Singapore national players with a few S.League imports over the next few days. In a pre-match press conference that was filled with media from all over, each team was represented by their team manager (coach) and their captain for get-together at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Scotts Road. Everton's manger Martinez and skipper Jagielka The humid climate is singled out as one of the main concerns shared by Everton manager Roberto Martinez while taking questions from the floor that surrounded the recent transfer market, expectations of the Toffees for their upcoming domestic season which skipper and England international Phil Jagielka hopes to finish at "any position that will qualify them for E

Albirex won the Cup for the second time It was thought the match would proceed into extra time after Fumiya Fogure levelled the scores in 75th minute to place Albirex Niigata (Singapore) on equal terms with Balestier Khalsa with minutes ticking away in The New Paper League Cup Final. But Kento Nagasaki's 90th minute strike ensured everyone at the Jalan Besar Stadium could head out for their supper on time after the Japanese side claimed their second win of this trophy which they last won back in 2011. "I am not worry to see the game head into extra time, as I have confidence on my team to get the goals within the full 90 minutes." said Albirex's coach Tatsuyuki Okuyama after the match. Jubilation after Albirex equalized On the contrary to the lacklustre display in their last match against Geylang International that clinched them the final berth, the White Swans did turn up for the occasion against Balestier by dominated much of the possession right from

Atsushi Kawata headed home the lead Geylang International coach Jorg Steinebrunner couldn't hide his disappointment after saw his men conceded three goals without reply against a less intense Albirex Niigata (Singapore) in the first semi-final played on past Sunday. "We just don't have the physical presence in the first half where we gave away the (first) goal cheaply," said the German coach. "I am disappointed with the standard of play that after two days we played against (Brunei) DPMM when we had play with such high intensity, the desire was missing today." added Coach Steinebrunner. Tatsuro Inui (left) facing hurdles in the match The remarks from the former Woodlands Wellington coach could be felt by many at the ground where the Eagles looked jaded and simply failed to strike a rhythm against a resilient White Swan who sat back to defend in numbers after took the lead in the 10th minute with a header from Atsushi Kawata who rose above the s