BoLASEPaKO.COM - A Blog on Singapore Football

Fans waiting patiently for their turn Not very often we would have an S.League club do something like this before the start of any season, but it is an encouraging sign. Judging from the turnout at the “Meet and Greet” session organized by Home United at the Bishan Stadium this evening which, at the same time, allowed supporters to catch a glimpse of the players' training session. Prior to the start of the first autograph session, both players and backroom staff were individually introduced to the crowds before it was adjourned to the open training session that was concluded with a match between “Team A” and “Team B” with the former scored a 4-1 victory over the latter. By then, eager fans were already formed along the stairways of the main stand for the second autograph session with new signings like Faris Ramli, Khairul Nizam, Irfan Fandi with skipper Juma'at Jantan at the first of the row on the limited edition posters that went on sale in conjunction with the even...

This entry supports #mysleagueticket ( source ) A small hiccup in the second minute that saw Kazuya Okazaki notched in the early lead for Albirex Niigata (Singapore) did not cause much distress to Home United as the latter eventually sealed the game 4-2 at the Bishan Stadium in a mixed outcome. The win by the defending Singapore Cup holders had leapfrogged them over the Japanese club in the league standings by placing themselves on the third spot with merely three points away from league leaders Brunei DPMM who suffered an almost frightening experience by scraping away with a 3-3 draw against Balestier Khalsa in another fixture of the night. The home team gradually got their act together with a kind of football that seems to flow on the ground effortlessly in front of national coach Bernd Stange, who mentioned earlier in a report that the core of the AFF Suzuki Cup would be from the 41 players he brought to the Austrian training trip "unless there’s a player who is shinin...

Credible display by SRC (white shorts) Despite losing both their group matches in the Starhub League Cup on close margin, NFL side Singapore Recreation Club (SRC) had won applauds for their efforts by bowing out gracefully after their 2-0 defeat to Home United at the Bishan Stadium last night. The defeat against the Protectors came days after they were narrowly beaten 1-0 by another S . League side Woodlands Wellington on last Friday. Unlike Police SA, their fellow NFL peers in the same tournament who suffered heavy losses in their campaign, the Padang-based club filled up their roster with a number of players who had experience in the professional scene, as compared to the law enforcers's base of mainly regular officers and full-time national servicemen. Aliimaran Lomri clears the ball In the meantime, owing to the tight fixtures that are scheduled ahead, Home United coach Lee Lim Saeng did not start a number of his regulars on the starting eleven with stars like Ko...

HUFC's coach Lee Lim Saeng after 3-1 win With Brunei DPMM losing to defending champions Tampines 2-1 at Clementi that corresponded with Home United's 3-1 win at their Bishan base over the cellar-dwellers Harimau Muda last night, the S . League title threw wide open with merely one to two points separating the four teams at the summit. These came after third-placed Warriors FC hit the kerb on last Sunday when they lost to Hougang United 3-2 that thwarted their chance to dethrone the Bruneians from the top of the standings and interestingly included fifth-placed Cheetahs in the title bid with only six points apart from the leaders. HOME UNITED 3-1 HARIMAU MUDA The Protectors' second victory in five days (after they beat league leaders DPMM last Friday at Berakas) elevated them to the second spot of the standings that had them levelled on points but a superior goal difference ahead of their uniformed rivals. This marked a stark contrast for Home United Coach Lee L...

Ismael Benahmed saved Jaguars Ismael Benahmed's 84th minute equalizer resulted the 1-1 draw between his Tanjong Pagar United and Home United at the Bishan Stadium that ultimately saw the positioning of both teams on the table remained status-quo after a month break. The S . League season resumes its fixtures following an adjournment for the mid-season League Cup tournament and saw the third-placed Jaguars travelled away to take on the fourth-placed Protectors last evening. The match also saw former Singapore international John Wilkinson turning out for the Queenstown outfit in his first return to Bishan after his much-publicized exit from Home United middle of the last campaign. Herisson denied Lee Kwan Woo's (center) effort The hosting side were having much of the possession in the first period of play by pinning the Jaguars in their own half, but couldn't break down the resilient defence led by skipper Walid Lounis with the assistance from Zahid Ahmad,...

Not being able to see games of late due to work and fatigue that creeped into my body system. Of course, the dreaded Lightning Warning System (LWS) that saw the last two games (sources: 1 , 2 ) I attended being patronized by it for some “good necessary intentions” despite the hassle, could be such a phobia to turn up at games too. Following some astonishing results that hogged the talking point among the fraternity, I thought it would be a good idea to see how Woodlands Wellington would fare in their away encounter at Bishan Stadium, home ground of Home United who aren't exactly enjoying their best start of the year with a draw (against DPMM) following by a heart-breaking loss last week to Albirex Niigata (Singapore). Especially, this came after the bold claim by Rams coach Salim Moin that his team have the capability to finish among the top three of the league during their pre-season introductory meet-up with the media. Although the former national midfielder was quick t...

(This entry is formulated based on information via the media release issued by the Football Association of Singapore ) Bishan last hosted "A" international match in 2009 Folks at Bishan will have another chance to see some international football actions after a few AFC Cup matches ( 1 , 2 ) took place months ago, when it was announced the Singapore national team will be facing their Hong Kong counterparts on the 15th of August at the Bishan Stadium. The two sides last met in June when the Lions were defeated 1-0 by their hosts in Hong Kong and no doubt that the Singapore team are eager for the avenge when they square off again in two weeks time. Jufri Taha (right) will be in the squad with Alek Duric Together with his club skipper Aleksandar Duric and midfield enforcer Fahrudin Mustafic, Tampines Rovers' Jufri Taha will be joining the national team for the first time in making the S.League defending champions, the largest bloc outside Lions XII in this cal...

(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) Uniform Derby - Singapore Cup 04/07/12 It wasn't easy to snap the shots when the lights were dimmed, as compared to those during the AFC Cup.The uploading of the shots was late, as I was out of town shortly after the game. The 2-1 win by the Warriors eventually laid the ground for their advancement to the semi-finals of the Cup after they drew 3-3 with the Protectors days later at home. (P.S2: This album is the only one for the month of July due to various pre-arranged commitments that made it impossible to have a few more.) PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES

Therdsak won 5 S.League titles with SAFFC He is always be remembered, in my opinion, as the best foreign player to grace the S.League ever since the inception in 1996. Never had someone who is able to dictate the pace of the game by turning the tide around for his team when the chips are down. With his departure from the scene in 2009 to return home to Thailand, there's no one that has come close to match his stature in the fraternity. For the fact that at the age of 38, he is still as good as gold as the crowds at Bishan Stadium saw the return of a legend named Therdsak Chaiman to Singapore football scene when he set up two goals to help his  team Chonburi FC to beat Home United 2-1 to clinch the top spot of Group G of the AFC Cup. The result proved to be a blow for the Protectors who were hoping for a victory over the Thai powerhouses would avoid them a dreadful trip to the Middle East for their octofinals fixture in this continental second-tier club competition. ...

"Although Okkthar United and Yangon United are just some of those many clubs in Myanmar, we consider them representing our country whenever they come to play in Singapore." Yangon Utd's fans out in full force to electrify Bishan "And we felt that it is our duty, as a Myanmarese, to support them when they are here." said Mr Tun Tun Min in an email interview ahead of Myanmarese side Yangon United's AFC Cup Group G clash against Home United this evening at the Bishan Stadium. Like many of his fellow countrymen who made their boisterous presence felt in last year's Okkthar United's RHB Singapore Cup run, Tun and few thousands of his compatriots were at the usually mundane Bishan setting when the two sides squared again after a goalless draw last week in Yangon, capital of Myanmar. Mladen Ristici (right) capitalized on Kenji Arai's (left) mistake to open the account It was also the patriotism sentiment, said the engineer, who works in a ...

Latiff (yellowed jersey) started this AFC match Ahmad Latiff Khamarudin made his much awaited start of the season on local soil for Tampines Rovers that caught many by surprise in their AFC Cup fixture against Song Lam Nghe An (SLNA) of Vietnam. Still yet to clear the mandatory beep test which the ace midfielder failed earlier of the day for the eighth time, the decision left many puzzled over the decision by Stags' coach Steven Tan. Given the fact that Latiff is due for his last chance two days later, would it be a wise decision to risk the well-being of the man who almost single-handedly won their the league title last year? SLNA's Hector (in white) shown pace but clumsy at finishing. "Latiff wanted to play." said coach Tan at the post-match press conference following the goal-less draw with the defending Vietnamese league champions that placed them at the foot of Group F after Kitchee SC notched their second continental win by beating Terengganu earlier...

Never conceded a goal at the stroke of half time - that is one of the golden rules of the game. Which is something Home United is guilty of when they allowed Citizen AA to gain their psychological advantage by doing so with that clinical strike from the left inside the box by their Japanese import Yuto Nakamura. Yuto Nakamura (14) scored in 45+1 min Given its recent poor form of late, it was doubtful that many at the Bishan Stadium were optimist of a comeback by the Protectors who in their last league match against their "auld enemy" - SAFFC saw them squandered a 2-0 lead before allowed the Warriors to level at 3-3 at the end at Choa Chu Kang. Yet, a stunning performance in the second half saw the last season's Singapore Cup winners staged a gallant fightback and overturned the table to beat the reigning Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield winners 3-1 with goals from Shotaro Ihata, Frederic Mendy and Qiu Li, who is widely seen as the man of the match with his tire...

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...

Coincidently, my fellow blogger Andy Brouwer blogged on the dismay pitch surface that staged a Cambodian league clash featuring Phnom Penh Crown, one of the guest teams invited for the Singapore Cup. To expect professional players to play on this surface and to perform at a sufficiently high level is simply not on. It's impossible to play a passing game along the ground unless you spend all your time on the flanks. The federation should not allow any more C-League matches on this pitch unless it is fully grassed. It's a basic requirement that if you are playing your country's main league competition, then it should be on a suitable playing surface. said Andy in his latest blog post . Take note of the portion of the field at the top of the box and flank area at Bishan!  I'm not sure what was Andy's overall impression of Singapore football after his short stay in Singapore, but he was to be at Bishan Stadium last night for the Home United-Tampines "table...

Oman shown their true colour on the New Year's Eve, by walloped Singapore 4-1 at the Bishan Stadium in the final game of this two-game friendly series. As what coach Raddy said after the match, he cannot think of anything positive out of this game as the visitors had clearly outsmarted, outclassed and outwitted their hosts with some swift movement and dominating of possession plays. It was certainly hard to stomach the sight of being so near to witness those three goals (mainly due to sloppy defending) let in by the Lions in the first half. Just as a friend in the media had commented we are guilty for the inconsistency shown in our recent run, which I really hope we can bounce back next Wednesday when we facing the Iranians like how we fought back gallantly to beat the Thais on their home turf . SOME PICTURES FROM THE MATCH (Picture above) This was an "A" international international match, since the referee is non-Singaporean this time, as compared to the "selection...