BoLASEPaKO.com - A Blog on Singapore Football

Picture courtesy of FAS If you guys want to know what are my thoughts on the announcement made this afternoon at Kuala Lumpur (pictured above), I would say I'm still struggling to formulate my thoughts. As everything to me still looked so vague, nonetheless, I allowed a journalist friend to quote me as follows when he called earlier. "We have just disqualified ourselves with Malaysia from taking part in the ACL (Asian Champions League), as I understand AFC (Asian Football Confederation) do not allow participation from member countries if they having foreign teams in their domestic leagues" citing an earlier announcement that saw us redraw from the Asian elite club competition because of the insistence of having foreign teams in our league. "Furthermore, it's been 17 years after we pulled out from the Malaysia Cup and during the period we see a new generation of supporters grown-up that who might not see/appreciate the significance of it as in the past,

(Many thanks to a friend who Whatsapp the attached images that depicted the national provisional squad.) The much awaited national provisional squad list was made know just a hour ago at the Jalan Besar Stadium (as pictured below). (Pictured above) The "senior" 23 players of the provisional squad. (Pictured above) These 10 players are classified as "NS" group which coach Raddy can select them, but subject to NS rulings. As what I told a friend days ago that I hope that disappointment years ago when the "dazzler" V Sundramoorthy was not selected by the then national coach Vincent Subramaniam, despite the call of him to do so would not resurface this time round. But much to the disappointment it was sad to note that Tampines Rovers ace Ahmad Latiff Khamarudin (pictured above) did not make the cut despite his stellar performance in the recent years after last featured in the red jersey in 2005. Plenty of surprises that came along the way when Tanjong Pagar Un

Blogger Arief of " Lions All The Way "'s (pictured right holding the flag) screen grab on livestream as he and his friend celebrate the Lions' victory. Really don't know what to say as much as I hate say this Precious ineffectiveness was exposed right in the first minute. The failure to close down the cross from the flank came back to haunt the Lions again with the cheeky ball eluded the center defense and paid the price, of course Nothing really threatening up from Noh Alam Shah and Aleksandar Duric, as both of them failed to gather much support from those suppose to. So much so coach Raddy threw in Agu Casmir and Khairul Amri in the second half, by taking the Arema Malang duo of Alam Shah and Ridhuan Muhamad. The changes that made proved to be a master stroke from the Serbian tactician which many fans back home asking why both Agu and Amri were not started in the first place together with Shahdan Sulaiman? Agu repaid his faith by setting up the equalizer for Dur

Catch the match on livestreaming instead on Channel 5 Singapore 1-1 The Philippines So "first match jittery" does happen whenever we play our first game in any major tournament. Clearly labelled by many as the clear favourites against the Filipinos, who prior to the opener was thrashed 8-0 by Thai club side Nakhon Pathom, thus it's no wonder the expectation back at home is high as the mood can be sensed in the recent days on the social media platforms. The lack of the killer-touch upfront is the cause of concern and had to wait until approximately 60th minute to take the lead through Aleksandar Duric, despite having our chances for large part of the game. While the acres of space that left behind for the Filipinos to graze in their counters should be noted down as well, with perhaps to the killing punch was the lack of marshalling on the right that eventually led to the equalizer.. Damn...

(Picture above) Screen-grab off my monitor of the match Home United's Shi Jiayi scored in the 25th minute after he slammed home on the first attempt off an Alek Duric's laid ball just inside the Vietnam's box. Gach Dong Tam Long An's Phan Văn Tài Em levelled in the 76th minute, when he duly finished up the mess caused in the Lions' six-yard after Geylang's Adrian Dhanaraj failed to clear the ball upon received a ball from the left flank. It was a match that saw the Lions played rather defensively, by trying to build up their attacks deep from their own half. The Lions did had a chance to double up the scores when an attempt hit the upright in the 87th minute (but cant tell who was it as the image was poor). OFFICIAL MEDIA RELEASE FROM FAS ON THIS MATCH Singapore hold host Vietnam SINGAPORE, 04 November 2010: Singapore held host Vietnam to an impressive 1-1 draw in the VFF Cup at the My Dinh stadium in Hanoi. Following their formidable combination against DPR Ko

"Status-quo" and that's for sure In his own words, has Mr Zainudin Nordin, the president of the Football Association of Singapore acknowledged the "lack of critical mass in key areas such as talent pool and resources" that "there is still a pressing need for us to continue having foreign teams participating in our league"? My only reaction is - How ironic can it be as it was only just yesterday when I blogged about "THE CHANCE" talent global search and saw for myself some of the raw talents being unearthed from the weekend and amateur scenes with whom some S.League clubs, I was told, are keen to "follow up" with them. Yet, the decision based on what is quoted in this source  is not doubted a regrettable one, as many fans out there perceived it as a way to accommodate the foreigner-based teams in our league. While Mr Zainudin mentioned in his letter to the AFC president Mohamed Bin Hammam that " having foreign te

I think it's not fair for me to pass any judgment when I could only managed to see the game for the last 20-odd minutes, after a frantic search around for the elusive livestreaming (pictured above). This defeat should not be seen as a calamity, although that's always seem to be the case that fans asking the heads of the coach and players who don't perform when things don't go their way. 1-0 to the Thais from Sarayoot Chaikamdee in the first half, which I couldn't see in the first instance. While I thought the last 20-odd minutes, we looked tight at the back amid some pacey raid from the Thais (as always), good display by Hassan Sunny who made some good saves towards the end of the game. MEDIA RELEASE FROM FAS ON THE MATCH Lions fall to solitary Thai strike SINGAPORE, 11 August 2010: A first half strike Thailand striker, Sarayoot Chaikamdee was enough to see off a determined Singapore team 1-0 in an international friendly match played at the Yamaha Stadium in Bangkok

(Off from TV) Jordanians in jubilation after beating us to head to the proper FIRST HALF SHORT SCRIBE Unfortunate to have conceded an early goal to the Jordanians, but except for some usual scary moments, the boys hold themselves well against their hosts in front of a hostile crowds. The already depleted Lions suffered another early blow when skipper Noh Rahman was replaced by Rosman Sulaiman due to an injury. SECOND HALF SHORT SCRIBE We started well in the second half while replacement skipper Noh Alam Shah levelled the scores almost immediately after the game resumed, but the joy was short-lived when the hosts took back the lead and evetually the winner in the 58th minute via a header off a corner. AFTERTHOUGHTS Fair to say we were on the disadvantage prior to the lead up to this showdown, with several key players ruled out due to various reasons? Not forget to mention to the alleged less-than-ideal hospitality by the hosts that might have hinder the preparation of the boys. I'm

(P.S: The Chinese text in the title says - "Beijing Guoan confirmed as the 12th team of S.League" ) The logo of Beijing Guoan FC (picture credit:  Logowik  **) The dust had settled as it was declared CSL club Beijing Guoan will join Etoile FC as the debutantes for Season 2010, which is scheduled to kick off on 1st February.  The announcement of the decision is much to the dismay of many fans who are clamouring for more local flavours in Singapore's only professional league (i.e.: praying for the returning of the likes of Sembawang Rangers, Jurong FC, etc.) Unfortunately, the league authority stood by their  “foreign team will bring in flavour and lift the playing standard (although, it wasn't the case all the time except for Albirex's first season and Super Reds' 2008 season)” theory with the last slot being given to the team hailed from the Chinese capital.  I am aware that the news is not well-received by the fans, but the decision is FINAL and time should

The 25th SEA Games logo (via Wikipedia ) PREVIEW Just as people thought the youngest ever Cubs were moving on the right track by emerged from their group stages in the recently SEA Games campaign, they were dealt with a lesson they would never forget - the harsh reality of the pace and the depth in technicality of today's football. Indeed, it will be remembered as face-saving outing for this squad of average 19.5 year-old as they met the target of being one of the semi-finalists in the biennial sporting fiesta, but let's hope whatever they learned would help them to be a better player in the near future. For the pride and for oneself - GO for the BRONZE . (P.S: Again due to the unfavourable timeslot, I would be greatly appreciate if any kind folks out there would update me the scores in any means, thanks) AFTERMATH Well done to the Cubs for retaining the spot as the football's bronze medalist of the SEA Games. 3-1 was the final score and glad for the fact that as one of my

Cubs' coach Terry Pathmanathan (above) - unfazed by the criticism of the widely perceived "negative" display of football against the Laotians on Thursday . PREVIEW I hope all the dust had settled by now, following the public outcry of the "negative" display of football by both the national U23 (or CUBS ) and their Laotian counterparts on Thursday night. To be honest, due to some prior arranged commitments I did not catch the match on "livestreaming", and felt it doesn't make any sense to watch the delayed telecast of the game upon received those messages, SMSes I gathered after the game was over. Basically, what matters to us is that we had qualified for the final-four and met the target we set for the Cubs before leaving for Laos, therefore, the utmost agenda is to see what can the Cubs achieved from here. Nonetheless, I did notice something that whenever any of the national teams performed badly, tonnes of criticism would be targeted at the team

PREVIEW A lot of you guys out there must be absolutely gutted and @$%&* when it was announced that Mediacorp decided to DELAY instead of LIVE telecast the Laos-Singapore match. But, hey, no point of crying over a cup of spilled milk, check out this site ( http://laofootball.blogspot.com/ ) tomorrow (or today, if you read this post on 10th Dec 2009) to see if there's any livestreaming of the match. On the other hand, questions had been raised on whether we are being too dependent on "set-pieces" when scoring goals, as some fans voiced their concern over the lack of creativity in the attacking play. At least one reader "happy" have this to say in his comment posted on the recent entry of the Cubs-Myanmar game . 4) Using set-piece is the way to score in international football & the U23 shld be credited for being able to do that as we need to understand interntional football has a few chances and most of it is from set play So it is a step forward for S'

Catch the game in my living room, no taker of the "SKYPE-IN" for this last-minute gimmick . The Indonesian paid the price for showing little respect to the Singaporeans'"dead-ball" supremacy as their slacking defending allowed the Cubs to make full use of those sloppiness and stabbed in two goals in less than half an hour since the kick-off. A great header from Safuan Baharudin propelled the Cubs to a morale-boasting lead as early as 7min. 24th minute saw the Cubs extended their lead from "golden left-footer" Shaiful Esah, who created the first goal, after the Indonesian 'keeper misjudged the ball that floated in from the right. The Cubs started off well in the first half against a stoned Indonesians, who bounced back in the second to turn the table. But skipper Isa Halim was guilty for his part for failing to stop the ball from the left flank, before the ball was played into the six-yard box to allow the young Garudas to pull one back before the e

(Picture from TV) Doesn't this trophy looks like the Malaysia Cup ? It was a soft, deflected goal from Andriy Voronin at the stroke of first half and the lapse in an indiscipline Singapore' backline in the second half saw the visiting the Liverpool ended their Singapore "holiday training camp" with a win over the hosting Lions at the heaven-know-when-will-tear-down National Stadium. To be honest, I thought we did well to hold the 18-time English Champions for large part of the first half until that Voronin's strike. But sad to say though that lack of discipline and composure eluded the Lions as they cracked as the game progressed. What a shame as it was an ONE half performance, but NO SHOW in the second. SOME REACTIONS FROM MY "FACEBOOK" LIST (Some instant reactions from my "facebook" contact) "thinks it's a shame we didn't give Pool a better fight... Better defending could definitely have prevented 2-3 of the goals!" "I

Lionel Lewis prepared to take the goal kick . "Is it fair to say when one moment of madness would define the outcome of a game?" I'm not sure if that's a fair statement but somehow that's the tendancy of people trying to find a scapegoat when things went horribly wrong. Ismail Yunos was one being singled out, by netizens, as one such "scapegoat" when he was sent off for a illegal tackle made and saw he received the marching order. Youtube clip of Ismail being sent off... Unforeseen circumstance like this saw the Lions had to reshuffle any game plan laid out by coach Raddy, who I was told being very pissed for such foul committed by Ismail. As the result, the whole game plan was derailed with players forcing to adjust to the hastily-changed tactics and not to mention the freezing Tehran weather that crippled the boys. 6-0, that was the scoreline and number of defensive lapses saw the second-stringer Iranian walloped us... " EDMW " folks made the

I just came back from Kallang.... What a sad end to the tournament... We had our chances (with Ah Long's countless efforts) but the luck wasn't there at all... The Vietnamese had their chance and capitalized on it and made us paid for the price. The general consensus was "Why Noh Rahman, who had a good game as the right-back, was replaced by an attacking-minded Ismail Yunos?" And because of the gap left by Ismail on the right, allowed Nguyen Quang Hai to score a tap-in from a Le Cong Vinh cross from the - right... Perhaps Ismail's long throw was the reason why coach Raddy wanted to utilize that and hoped one of our tall guys could head home a goal? As quoted what coach Raddy mention here - “We must now prepare for the Asian Cup qualifiers as that will be a more difficult task as we will face strong teams like Iran and Jordan. “This team has been together for some time and they can play together for the next two to three years,” Look forward ahead and don't d

Mum granted me another concession to catch the game at the living room :) We were lucky... That's all can I say after the stalemate performance by the boys.. We were lucky... That Vietnamese were not sharp in front of goal. We were lucky... because birthday boy Lionel Lewis saved our day at goal. We were lucky... to have not a goal conceded. We were lucky... that we are coming home (again to Kallang) in one piece, but to put ourselves under a lot of (unnecessary) pressure. Some feedback I gathered the following day... Whoever I spoke to after the Hanoi game, the following game was those "curse and swear" reaction. "No idea what they were (the Lions) doing with the ball!" exclaimed one colleague of my. "Whenever they got (the ball), they just whacked upfront and allowed Vietnam to come back and attack. "Like macam training session like dat (as they were having a training session)." he added. Another claimed, "Singapore's lucky star was b

"Sopcast" let me down again and a white knight in Kallangroar.com recommended this alternative -"SPVOD". Need not to worry about the buffering of the clip as it was smooth-sailing throughout the match, although it was lag by a few seconds (which always the case). And we did it again at Senanyang (aka Gelora Bung Karno Stadium) with a 2-0 win over the hosts, who must be feeling a lot of pressure before and now, after the match. Not a bad display by Baihakki Khaizan at the back and fair to say we are slowly progressing after every match... See you guys back home.

Don't have any luck today as the livestream was down since this afternoon... can't figure out why and therefore had to watch the game on the terrestrial channel (courtesy to Mum's "making way" again.. ). A repeat of the 2007 "walk-out" as the Burmese staged a walk-out, after they disagreed with the referee's decision to allow Singapore to take the free-kick too quickly and resulted the third goal scored by Agu Casmir in the 74th minute. As what Mark Richmond mentioned, "Nothing wrong with the referee's decision, as he (the referee) gave the go-ahead to allow (Noh) Alam Shah to take the free-kick, while Shi Jiayi (who was injured) was on the grounded" . Nonetheless, tempers flared and saw Burmese 'keeper Aung Aung Oo deservedly sent off for push the referee, Phung Dinh Dung of Vietnam. Phung was subjected to those sarcastic applause from the Burmese after he blew the final whistle. Bravery to the Vietnamese referee who stood his gro