BoLASEPaKO.com - A Blog on Singapore Football

(This entry is formulated based on the media release issued by Lion City Sailors Football Club, all media materials used in this post belong to LCS) The highly anticipated Lion City Sailors (LCS) Training Centre was officially declared opened last evening (28/7) by Mr Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Law, and LCS chairman Mr Forrest Li. SAILORS ' COMMITMENT TO SINGAPORE FOOTBALL Located at 8 Mattar Road, this 28,000-square metres integrated football training facility is first-of-its-kind in Singapore. Some of the facilities in the centre included physiotherapy rooms, a gym, an analysis room as well as study facilities for academy trainees alongside five top-of-the-line football fields. LCS' $10 million facility at Mattar Road The training centre will the new home of the Sailors' first team, Under-21 side, academy trainees as well as its women’s team. "The training centre is the most tangible manifestation of the Sailors’ com

 SGPL - Balestier Khalsa 2-2 Tampines Rovers 260222 Aerial duel at Tigers-Stags game Balestier Khalsa came back from behind to salvage a draw with goals from Shuhei Hoshino and Ensar Brunčević in the second half. The Stags took a two-goal lead in the first half through Boris Kopitović and Taufik Suparno. The match also saw the return of Balestier's head coach Akbar Nawas to the local top flight after five years when he, ironically, stepped down from the Tampines Rovers' hot seat in 2017. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE PICTURES SGPL - Tanjong Pagar United 2-2 Hougang United 060322 Jags' 'keeper Zharfan ensured safety Shodai Nishikawa's 88th minute diving header salvaged a 2-2 for Tanjong Pagar United after they earlier surrendered the lead to Hougang United's two quick goals in 77' & 79'. Khairul Nizam opened the account in the 72nd minute for Jags. Tanjong Pagar United reclaimed the pacesetter role barely one day after their co-tenants Alb

Kyoga Nakamura's deal - a bigger news I can sense that excitement when Tampines Rovers surprised everyone when they dished out an unprecedented contract to bind Kyoga Nakamura for the next five years . After all, a commitment for that duration is something unheard of in local football where it was a common thing to see one or, if lucky, a two-year contract for the players. Furthermore, it came at a time when the economy is not doing well when most of us are worrying about our bread and butter. CONTINUING OF THE HYPE? The surfacing of this development definitely gave us a "wow" reaction, and probably something of a continuation of hype after the heroics of the Lions that melted the hearts of the nation in the recent AFF Suzuki Cup followed by the signing of Izwan Mahbud and M Anumanthan to the big-spending Lion City Sailors (LCS). Not forgetting Albirex Niigata (Singapore) made eyes turn when they roped in former Japanese international Tadanari Lee  ( Lee is famous for s

Izwan Mahbud switched to LCS  🚨 So much hoo-ha today (8/1) on the latest Lion City Sailors' (LCS) recruitment of both Izwan Mahbud and M Anumanthan . 💭 A friend of mine asked me about my thoughts on Izwan's signing for the Sailors, the following are some of my thoughts. 👍 On the positive side, it makes the contest for the number one spot more intense which is good, be it on the club or national team (NT) level. 🔄 I would like to think Coach Kim Do-hoon intends to rotate both Hassan Sunny and Izwan, given the packed calendar LCS be having. Happy headache for Coach Kim (credit: LCS) ⚠️ Having either one of them sit on the bench for too long isn't gonna do any good, given their importance to the NT who have both Asian Cup qualifiers and Suzuki Cup coming up later this year. 🧐 I would think Izwan be staying put at Hougang United where he would have more playing time to allow him to impress whoever is going to be the NT coach. 🐴 In the meantime, there are some quibbles on

Lion City Sailors - 2021 SPL champions (credit: FAS) 😶 It is not unusual to see transfer speculations surfaced right after the season is over, and already we read about newly-minted champions Lion City Sailors (pictured, credited FAS) linked to several high profile foreign players in their bid to assemble a squad capable to put up a decent performance in next season's AFC Champions League (ACL). ❌ Nothing wrong with that, especially we wouldn't want to see a repeat of that woeful Tampines Rovers' ACL campaign that eventually led to a premature end of their SPL title campaign. 💰 And more importantly, we know the financial muscles of the Sailors and some detractors of theirs are worrying they have already begun to turn SPL into a one-horse race.   LCS Coach Kim Do-hoon won the ACL in 2020 (issued by LCS) 🔍The challenge will be in what way the rest of the league can innovate in other means besides money to complete with Sailors, rather than sit at one corner to lick

A picture of a goalkeeper (as credited) Just a quick thought of what I saw at the Lion City Sailors - Balestier Khalsa game that had the Sailors walked away with a victory and the Singapore Premier League (SGPL) title. Sadly, in this game, we witnessed some poor goalkeeping that gifted the newly-minted champions those decisive goals which could have been avoided if better reading and judgment were there in the first place. Like one veteran coach who once told me "'keeper's territory is six-yard and outside that area would be the defenders" and with that belief, it bemused me what was going through the mind of the 'keeper whose poor judgment eventually led to Gabriel Quak netted LCS' fourth goal and helped to uncork the champagne for celebration. Lion City Sailors - 2021 SGPL champions (credit: FAS) Furthermore, the lack of commanding presence in his six-yard led to the second goal scored by Sailors in the first half and he seems to have the audacity to ask

 Lions Training 010921  Coach Yoshida led by example in the Lions' training  National Coach Tatsuma Yoshida called up 22 locally-based players for a series of training sessions during the FIFA international window. The training sessions saw the newcomers in the likes of Song Ui-young of Lion City Sailors and Hougang United's Afiq Noor. The sessions also saw the return of skipper Hariss Harun alongside Faritz Hameed, Jacob Mahler and Geylang International's Amy Recha whose last call-up was back in July 2016. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE PICTURES SGPL - Tampines Rovers 2-1 Young Lions 180921 Balancing act by Baihakki Khaizan Tampines Rovers had to work their socks off till the end to ensure they finally snapped their six-game winless streak by beating a resilient Young Lions 2-1 last evening (18/9) at Our Tampines Hub. Zehrudin Mehmedović gave the Stags the lead before half-time that was cancelled out by the spot-kick from Young Lions' skipper Jacob Mahler in

It used to cost $5 for more than a decade Years ago, before an S.League game between SAFFC and Etoile FC at Jalan Besar Stadium, I met someone I know just outside the ground, along King George Avenue, and had this brief conversation (as below). Acquaintance: "Do you have a free ticket?" as he was aware of my involvement in the scene. Me: "Nope, I don't have it" Acquaintance: "Cannot be, last time my who worked as a photographer, always have free tickets to matches" Me: "Time changes as different people are calling the shots now." A scene like this is not uncommon, but it is already becoming an annoying problem which I attributed to the liberal policy of giving complimentary entry that led to this kind of problem. A League Cup match played at Jalan Besar Stadium Perhaps, in the first place, such goodwill was to gather more awareness by offering free admission to fans to certain games. But the dangerous part of this giveaway has developed into

SGPL - Albirex Niigata (Singapore) 1-2 Tanjong Pagar United 060821 Jags' GK Zharfan Rohaizad fisted away the danger Bounced from last week's defeat in the hands of Geylang International on the same venue, Tanjong Pagar United scored the biggest upset since their returning to the top-flight by beating defending AIA Singapore Premier League champions Albirex Niigata (Singapore) 2-1 last evening (6/8) at the Jurong East Stadium. Against the run of play, former White Swans star Reo Nishiguchi put the Jaguars ahead in the 33rd minute before it was cancelled out by Shuya Yamashita's header in the 81st minute. But Luiz Junior's audacious lob in the 84th minute confirmed their co-tenant's first defeat of the year. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES SGPL - Albirex Niigata (S) 4-1 Hougang United 130821 Ryosuke Nagasawa (middle) shielded the ball away from Cheetahs' Shahfiq Ghani  Right after last night's (13/8) AIA Singapore Premier League fixtur

The Google Search from 15/8 to 21/8/21 Good day to all, A random search on Google Trends to test the three names that generate some buzz in the otherwise tepid scene over the last week. As we noticed "K Kannan" was the first to peak after the much-publicized bid to have his ban lift by FAS . Zaiful Nizam was axed by the Tigers Follow that was the shock termination of Zaiful Nizam's contract by Balestier Khalsa after the internal disciplinary inquiry which resulted in a spike in his name is searched online. To round things up on a positive note was the naturalization of South Korean-born Song Ui-young as a Singapore citizen . Till then, stay safe and healthy and don't gather in numbers ❌ Thank you for your support. - 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎'𝒔 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒍 -

Friendly - Geylang International 2-3 Hougang United 090621 Geylang's Moresche (left) and Hougang's Lionel Tan The Cheetahs walked away with a 3-2 over the Eagles in this friendly fixture at Our Tampines Hub. Geylang took the two-nil lead through Brazilian striker Moresche and Asshukrie Wahid before Gilberto Fortunato reduced the deficit from a spot-kick before interval to make it 2-1. Shahril Ishak and AIA Singapore Premier League leading scorer Tomoyuki Doi added one each after the break to make it 3-2 to seal the game for Hougang. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES Friendly - LCS 3-0 Geylang International 160721 Eye for the corner in this LCS-Geylang friendly at JBS Diego Lopes' second half hat-trick was deemed enough to help Lion City Sailors to beat Geylang International 3-0 at the Jalan Besar Stadium. This friendly fixture was the final match for both sides before the resuming of their AIA Singapore Premier League. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE RE

Did you see the rainbow? Good day to all, Plenty of things happened over the last few days. ➡️ The resuming of the AIA Singapore Premier League. ➡️ The two-and-half-year partnership between Lion City Sailors and Borussia Dortmund. ➡️ Another Tampines Rovers player tested positive for the Covid19 after returning from the AFC Champions League campaign in Uzbekistan. ✅ ✅ The first two are, no doubt, some positives injected to the scene while, and hopefully, the infected Tampines players will get well soon 🙏. 🤒 From what I read, not only Tampines players are infected, six persons from Gamba Osaka and Frontale Kawasaki are infected as well. 🤒 Gamba reported having two players and two accompanied staff down with the virus, while Frontale non-playing staff were infected, according to Sohu, a China news portal. 🤦🏻‍♂️Although, it is regrettable to come across some nonsensical comments targeted at those infected Tampines players which clearly shown the lack of empathy towards anyone who is

 Friendly - Geylang International 2-1 Balestier Khalsa 060321 Balestier's 'keeper Zaiful Nizam stretched to his limit Like the players too, those on the sidelines must also have their preparation for the new season. One of the challenges taking pictures at places like OTH is the unpredictable shades that cover the field during a game. Therefore, playing around with the settings is part of the acclimatising too. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES SGPL - Balestier Khalsa 1-2 Tampines Rovers 170321 Balestier's Shuhei Hoshino (red) tussling with Tampines' Baihakki Khaizan The AIA Singapore Premier League match between Balestier Khalsa Football Club and Tampines Rovers Football Club started on time on a greasy field due to the heavy rain prior the game. Stags' Taufik Suparno opened the account in 56th minute before Amer Hakeem levelled for the Tigers in 67th minute but the hosts' joy was temporary when Boris Kopitovic placed Stags back on the po

(This entry is formulated based on the media release issued by Lion City Sailors (LCS) Football Club, all media materials used in this post belong to LCS ) Putting words into action was what Lion City Sailors (LCS) did earlier in the day when Singapore's only privatized football club hosted the groundbreaking ceremony of its $10 million state-of-the-art training facility at Mattar Road. The event was graced by the presence of Ms. Tin Pei Ling, Member of Parliament for MacPherson Single Member Constituency who was the Guest of Honour at the ceremony. The entrance to the LCS Integrated Facility  The conceiving of this state-of-the-art training facility was first reported in the media back last September  and not long after which their current facilities at the same location were accoladed by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) as a "One-Star academy". PROJECTED TO COMPLETE IN APRIL 2022 It is understood that the present facilities on the mentioned site will make way for

Bishan Stadium is under the re-turfing process This is the current condition of the field of Bishan Stadium, the designated "home" ground of two Singapore Premier League (SGPL) clubs - Lion City Sailors and Balestier Khalsa, as seen from the nearby Bishan Sports Hall days ago. It was learned that such re-turfing of the natural grass surface would take approximately five to six months to complete and the process began late last year. NEW SEASON K.O. IN LATE FEB One recent Straits Times article suggested the Community Shield, the annual pre-season opener for the SGPL, will be staged on 20th February. If it is what the mentioned broadsheet suggested, the 2021 SGPL season is likely to kick off on the following weekend based on past scheduling of fixtures. However, given the present condition of the Bishan surface, it is understood Balestier Khalsa will play their home fixtures at Toa Payoh Stadium while LCS will be ground sharing the newly-refurbished Jalan Besar Stadium (JBS) w

SGPL - Geylang Int'l 2-3 Balestier Khalsa 241020 Shuhei Hoshino (9) raised at the near post in this aerial attempt. Balestier Khalsa Football Club maintained their winning form while Geylang International FC continued their losing streak since the resumption of AIA Singapore Premier League after Tigers walked away with a 3-2 win at Our Tampines Hub earlier of the day. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES SGPL - Tanjong Pagar Utd 0-0 Hougang United 011120 HGFC's Lionel Tan found himself being sandwiched  Both Tanjong Pagar United and Hougang United concluded their AIA Singapore Premier League fixture on a scoreless ending on 1st November at the Jurong East Stadium. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES SGPL - Lion City Sailors 6-1 Tanjong Pagar United 131120 LCS' Shahdan Sulaiman made sure he won this header Lion City Sailors maintained their fiery form by scoring another big margin win when they anchored Tanjong Pagar United 6-1 a